Sweeney gained wider recognition for her roles in the HBO drama series Euphoria (2019–present) and the first season of the anthology series The White Lotus (2021), which earned her nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards.[2][3] In 2023, she portrayed Reality Winner in the drama film Reality and led the commercially successful romantic comedy Anyone but You. In 2024, she starred in the superhero film Madame Web, and produced and starred in the horror film Immaculate.
Early life
Sydney Sweeney was born on September 12, 1997,[4] in Spokane, Washington, to Lisa (née Mudd) and Steven Sweeney. Her mother is a former criminal defense lawyer, and her father is a hospitality professional.[5] She has one brother.[6] Sweeney was raised in north Idaho[7] in the state's Panhandle region along the Washington border, at a rural lakeside home that her family has inhabited for five generations.[8] Sweeney said she has a "religious family".[9]
Sweeney attended middle school at Saint George's School in Spokane.[10] She was active in numerous sports: "I was in every single sport possible", she said. "I was on the soccer team, the baseball team, the snow slalom ski team, I was wakeboarding."[8] Sweeney said she had a wakeboarding accident as a child where the edge of her board propelled backward and sliced the area next to her eye, leaving a permanent scar.
Sweeney became interested in acting after auditioning to be an extra in an independent film that was shooting in the Spokane area.[10] To convince her parents to allow her to pursue acting, she presented them with a five-year business plan.[11] Sweeney began to audition and book commercial acting jobs in Seattle and Portland, Oregon, where the family temporarily resided, until choosing to relocate to Los Angeles when she was 13 years old.[12]
Sweeney began her career as a guest star in TV shows such as 90210, Criminal Minds, Grey's Anatomy and Pretty Little Liars.[16][17] Sweeney starred as Emaline Addario on the 2018 Netflix series Everything Sucks!, which revolved around two groups of high school students in Oregon in 1996. She then appeared in the HBO miniseries Sharp Objects, recurring as Alice, a roommate whom Amy Adams' character meets at a psychiatric facility.[18][19] Her character was originally supposed to have a smaller role, but the director kept bringing her in for more scenes.[20] For the role, Sweeney studied stories of girls who experience mental illness and self-harming, and visited hospitals which had patients who self-harmed.[18][20] She filmed Everything Sucks! and Sharp Objects concurrently, the former during the week and latter on weekends.[21]
In June 2019, Sweeney began portraying Cassie Howard, a teenager with a promiscuous reputation, in the HBO drama series Euphoria.[27] The show was a breakout hit, becoming the second most watched HBO series.[28] Her performance received praise, earning a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2022.[29]Variety asserted that the role of Cassie "proves that Sweeney's one hell of a shapeshifter between her deft turns in this, The Handmaid's Tale, Everything Sucks and Sharp Objects."[30] Her many nude scenes in the series received significant attention, generating discussions about nudity in film and the male gaze. Despite this, Sweeney has stated she would not stop doing nude scenes.[31]
In January 2023, Sweeney became a brand ambassador for companies Armani Beauty and Laneige.[40][41] She starred as U.S. Air Force veteran Reality Winner in Tina Satter's thriller drama Reality, which premiered at the 73rd Berlin Film Festival. Steph Green of IndieWire found the film "inventively mounted and extraordinarily tense" and labelled Sweeney as "the real deal."[42] Jessica Kiang of Variety wrote that she played "Winner so convincingly that it's hard to remember her as the sardonic, pampered teen in The White Lotus, or the nice-girl-turned-nasty in Euphoria."[43] Sweeney next had a role in the crime thriller Americana, which premiered at the South by Southwest Festival in March 2023.[44][45]
She starred in the music video for the Rolling Stones' single "Angry," from their 2023 album Hackney Diamonds. The video premiered in September 2023.[46] In response to criticism that the video objectified her, Sweeney defended it as "empowerment through embracing [my] body."[47] At age 25, Sweeney was selected as one of Forbes' 2023 30 Under 30 in the celebrity category.[48][49] Sweeney starred with Glen Powell in the romantic comedy Anyone but You, which premiered in December 2023.[50] It became a commercial sleeper hit.[51] Sweeney was an executive producer for the film and was instrumental in hiring costar Glen Powell and director Will Gluck in addition to contributing to the script.[52]
In 2024, Sweeney had a supporting role in the superhero filmMadame Web, set in Sony's Spider-Man Universe franchise.[53][54] It was released in February 2024, receiving negative reviews and bombing at the box office.[55][56] Speaking of the box office and critical failure of the film, Sweeney said "I was just hired as an actress in it, so I was just along for the ride for whatever was going to happen."[57] In March, she hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live.[58] She then produced and starred in the psychological horror film Immaculate.[59] She originally auditioned for the project in 2014. Years later, she purchased the rights to the screenplay and hired frequent collaborator Michael Mohan to direct.[60] Sweeney has said that she considered producing a way to create opportunities for herself.[61] Later that year, she co-starred in Eden directed by Ron Howard.[62] Reviewing the film for TheWrap, critic Chase Hutchinson said: " (Sweeney) runs away with the whole thing ... it's her subtle looks and a growing agency that turns Eden into something more ... every moment with her at the forefront is Eden at its best."[63]
Sweeney is engaged to businessman Jonathan Davino as of 2023.[66][67] She and Davino prefer to keep details of their relationship private as Davino is not a celebrity.[68][69] They produce films together (including Anyone but You), with Davino serving as Sweeney's "producing partner".[70]
Besides her native language English, Sweeney speaks Russian and Spanish. She taught herself Russian in high school, and learned Spanish at school for most of her life, as her father lives in Mexico.[71]
Sweeney is an automobile enthusiast, and has restored a 1969 Ford Bronco and a 1965 Ford Mustang. In partnership with Ford motor company, she designed a custom 2024 Mustang.[72]
^Eddins, Sam (August 27, 2019). "Award Winners from Sidewalk 2019". Sidewalk Film Center & Cinema. Archived from the original on January 30, 2024. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
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