Sydney Sweeney’s Former Bullies Are Sliding into Her DMs

Sydney Sweeney is certainly having a fantastic run in Hollywood as of late. If you’ve watched The White Lotus, Sharp Objects, The Handmaid’s Tale, Euphoria, or Everythings Sucks, then you’ve already seen her sparkle on the small screen. And Sweeney has booked her fair shared of movies also, even starring alongside some of the biggest names in Hollywood at her young age. But the road to success wasn’t always easy for the talented actor.

As many working actors know, nobody is an overnight success story. It typically takes years of hard work and hundreds of rejections before an actor catches their first big break. This was certainly the case for Sweeney. After convincing her parents to let her pursue acting at the young age of 12, the actor heard “no” for years on end before she started booking some of her bigger roles.

Sydney Sweeney faced backlash for pursuing acting in her hometown of Spokane, Washington

Sweeney may have had the support of her parents, but her interest in acting made it especially difficult to navigate life in her hometown of Spokane, Washington. When her parents started letting her take trips to Los Angeles to go on auditions, she faced tremendous judgment from her peers and their parents. It was especially hurtful for The Voyeurs actor because the negativity was also coming from people she’d once called friends. In an interview with L’OFFICIEL, Sweeney explained some of the negativity she faced as she was coming of age.

“When I first starting going to LA I had really close friends that suddenly weren’t close anymore, because of the things that their parents would say at the dinner table,” Sweeney revealed. “And it was that kind of thing, where the parents would influence what these 13-year-old kids would say or think. And they’d be like, ‘I can’t believe that Sydney’s parents are letting her go to the hell-ridden city.’ Just their close-minded beliefs, and they would talk about it at the dinner table, and the kids would take it to school and that’s just how everything would go around.”

‘THe White Lotus’ star was bullied at a young age

It wasn’t long before the gossip got completley out of hand and Sweeney was the target of some pretty nasty bullying at her school. “It got to a point that my school had to react and to talk to us about bullying because my phone—my parents took it away because of the things the kids were saying, the voicemails they were sending me—it got really hard,” Sweeney remembered. “At such a young age, too. I didn’t even know why at the time, I was like ‘what am I doing wrong?’”

‘The Players Table’ producer’s bullies are sliding into her DMs on Instagram

Fortunately, Sweeney didn’t let the bullying deter her from chasing after her dreams. And, as she has become more successful, her former bullies now are reaching out to her wanting contact with her. “The number of people I’ve gotten DM’s from or random text messages, those same people who are now like, ‘We’re so proud of you and we’ve supported you the whole way,’ And I’m like, yeah, no you haven’t.”

Sweeny gives advice for young people who are experiencing bullying

It seems that Sweeney has healed from a lot of the bullying she experienced as a young teen. The Euphoria actor even has advice for those who might be experiencing bullying of their own. “Always reach out to a trusted adult, even if you don’t feel like you can,” Sweeney urged. “I wish that I would have talked to my mom sooner than I did, because she would’ve helped me a lot faster than it was dealt with. Just know that it’s not you, it’s other people who don’t understand. There’s more out there in the world—but definitely talk to a trusted adult.”