‘The Handmaid’s Tale’: Sydney Sweeney Used Taylor Swift to Distract Her
Sydney Sweeney is certainly having a moment. The actor seems to be making appearances in all the popular TV shows these days. From portraying the boy-crazed Cassie in Euphoria to the acerbic Olivia in The White Lotus, the actor is showing off her chops. However, it was her part in The Handmaid’s Tale that truly served as her breakout role in the entertainment industry.
Who does Sydney Sweeney portray in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ cast?
Long-time fans of Sweeney may recall her role in the sophomore season of The Handmaid’s Tale. In the hit Hulu drama, the Washington native portrayed child bride, Eden. As Gilead was all Eden had ever known, she was initially a very obedient and pious character. However, falling in love eventually caused Eden to change her tune and she paid the ultimate price.
The ‘Euphoria’ actor used Taylor Swift as a distraction on set
Though The Handmaid’s Tale features some pretty grim storylines, the cast and crew make sure that set is an enjoyable place to work. In an interview with Glamour UK, Sweeney got candid about how she was able to keep her mood light despite the intensity of the work that she was doing. According to The Players Table producer, she and one of her main scene partners used Taylor Swift’s Reputation album as a distraction technique.
“The cast and the crew are beyond hilarious, and we would just goof off whenever the cameras weren’t rolling or sing Taylor Swift – Max Minghella (Nick) knows all of the words to the new Taylor Swift album!” Sweeney shared about working on The Handmaid’s Tale. But T. Swift wasn’t the only thing that the cast and crew relied on to keep things loose and fun. They also used reality TV as a distraction.
‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ cast and crew loved goofing off and discusssing ‘The Bachelor’
“Some of the other crew members are fans of The Bachelor so every week, I was getting updated on what was happening,” Sweeney shared about filming The Handmaid’s Tale. “I was also doing school at the time, so I would have to run to the trailer, grab some books and try to read as much as I could before I had to go back on set. So there was [sic] a lot of things distracting me from the horrors that we were actually filming.”
Sweeney makes character books to keep herself seperate from her characters
Another thing that helped Sweeney with not holding on the heaviness that her role required was her character book. For The Handmaid’s Tale (and every role she’s had since) The Voyeurs star creates a detailed account of her character’s whole life. Since most women in Gilead are prohibited from reading, Eden’s book was comprised of pictures. Still, it was moving enough to influence the writers’ ideas about Eden.
We can see why Sweeney and The Handmaid’s Tale cast and crew used music and TV to alleviate any lingering tension on set. Given all the darkness that the show explores, a little levity seems like a necessary requirement.
