Sydney Sweeney Says It’s ‘Ironic’ How the Media Sexualizes Her
Sydney Sweeney is booked and busy. The actor has been dominating with her performances on HBO shows like Euphoria and The White Lotus. Thanks to her company, Fifty-Fifty Films, she’s also working tediously on an upcoming HBO Max series, The Players Table, which she’ll executive produce and star in. And this summer, Sweeney will be spending her days filming Sony’s Madame Web, launching her firmly into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Sydney Sweeney was a standout performer in ‘Euphoria’ Season 2
Sweeney certainly received a fair amount of attention for her role in Euphoria Season 2. She had a much bigger role in the show’s sophomore season and she was able to show off her acting range. It seems that the Washington native fully embraced being the villain of season 2. Many fans called out how great Sweeney was at showing Cassie’s descent into destruction. The actor is even receiving Emmy buzz for her performance in the wildly popular show.
‘Euphoria’ fans expressed concern about the actor’s nudity in the show
Of course, fans and critics alike weren’t just focused on Sweeney’s acting. Many people expressed concerns about the number of nude scenes she did in season 2. Though The Voyeurs star has made it clear that she feels safe on Euphoria’s set, many people felt that her nudity was gratuitous. This was only exacerbated when Sweeney herself revealed that she initially had even more nude scenes before she told Euphoria’s creator, Sam Levinson, that she felt uncomfortable with them because they were unnecessary.
Though Cassie’s nude scenes have been discussed at length, Sweeney shares that it’s only a small part of her character’s role. She shared that just as Cassie has been oversexualized, so too has she. Citing the media and people, the 24-year-old revealed that she can draw parallels between her life and that of her character’s life.
Sweeney says she’s been sexualized in the press because of her nude scenes
“I think it’s funny how much people seem to focus on the nudity when that’s just a fragment of her storyline,” Sweeney told Emmys. “You see the parallels of what Cassie’s world does to her — how they sexualize her — and it’s supposed to be a lesson to the world of how that can happen to a girl. And then I see the press and people doing that to me. So it’s kind of ironic and funny.”
In fact, Sweeney has shared that the nudity in Euphoria initially prevented people from seeing her acting prowess. According to the MMA fighter, it wasn’t until she portrayed Olivia Mossbacher that people really started to praise her work as an actor. In a separate interview with Independent, she spoke candidly about this phenomenon.
The TV and movie star shares that people started taking her seriously after ‘The White Lotus’
“With The White Lotus, I felt like people were finally recognizing the hard work I’ve been doing,” Sweeney shared. “This is something that has bothered me for a while. I’m very proud of my work in Euphoria. I thought it was a great performance. But no one talks about it because I got naked. I do The White Lotus and all of a sudden critics are paying attention. People are loving me. They’re going, ‘Oh my God, what’s she doing next?’ I was like, ‘Did you not see that in Euphoria?”
Clearly, people have a lot of opinions about the nude scenes Sweeney has done for Euphoria. However, she has reiterated that she always feels safe on set. We hope that continues to be the case for her and her fellow castmates.
