Sydney Sweeney Reveals Kodi Smit-McPhee’s Dad, Andy, Mentored Her
If you’re an avid TV watcher, chances are you’ve come across Sydney Sweeney a time or two. The actor has starred in some of the most popular TV shows in the past few years. From The Handmaid’s Tale to Euphoria, Sweeney seems to flit from role to role with ease. Impressively, all her characters are quite distinct from each other. So distinct, in fact, that sometimes people don’t even recognize her on screen. This is because Sweeney puts in a painstaking amount of work to create her characters. Her unique process was born from advice she received from a mentor.
It may seem like Sweeney materialized out of nowhere, but she’s been working in the entertainment industry for over a decade. The Voyeurs star had small roles on shows like Criminal Minds and Pretty Little Liars prior to booking the big projects she’s become known for. It took time and effort for Sweeney to become the actor she is today. And she had some help along the way. In fact, she was mentored by a very successful actor.
Sydney Sweeney and Kodi Smit-McPhee lived in the same apartment complex in Los Angeles
In an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald, Sweeney revealed that she grew up with The Power of the Dog actor, Kodi Smit-McPhee. The pair lived in the same apartment complex in Los Angeles and became fast friends. Their friendship put Sweeney in close proximity with Smith-McPhee’s father, Andy McPhee. And McPhee gave Sweeney some career-changing advice.
Andy McPhee was a mentor to the ‘Euphoria’ star
”No one knows this but Kodi’s dad, Andy, was a mentor to me, and he was the one who started my process of acting,” Sweeney shared. “He taught me to separate myself from my characters.” Sweeney took this advice in stride and began her process of creating books for all of her characters. The books serve as an interactive timeline of her character’s entire life. In a separate interview with Story + Rain, the Sharp Objects alum explained how McPhee’s advice influenced her preparation process.
Sweeney’s character books are the product of her mentor’s advice
“I had this mentor when I was younger who told me that I should separate myself as much as I can from the characters I play, because sometimes you can easily get lost in the character,” Sweeney recalled. “And I never wanted that to happen. Also, I enjoy building worlds. I always had imaginary friends and all these imaginary worlds growing up. I create these books, and basically build this entire imaginary world for the character that I am playing. I’ll build her from the day she was born to her current age. I’ll figure out where she’d go to school; everything having to do with her family and friends…all the details that aren’t in the script.”
Clearly, McPhee’s advice and Sweeney’s attention to detail have served The White Lotus actor well. She has quite a few projects in the works and we’re sure her fans are looking forward to seeing what character she creates next.
