9 of the most disgusting body horrors you need to watch after Together
Dave Franco and Alison Brie's body horror film Together has been lauded as 'squirm-inducing' and 'disgusting' by critics.
Set for release on August 15, it follows dysfunctional couple Tim (Franco) and Millie (Brie), who find themselves stuck in a rut and questioning their relationship when they move to a remote countryside home.
As they contemplate the prospect of going their separate ways, an encounter with a sinister entity changes their lives – and flesh – forever.
Together has earned rave reviews from critics, garnering an impressive 89% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
It joins the ranks of widely-praised 2025 releases in the horror genre, including chilling vampire remake Nosferatu, Ryan Coogler's acclaimed Sinners, and the terrifying Bring Her Back.
Horror has long utilised the real-life anxieties we have surrounding our bodies, from everyday anatomy changes to the fear of disease and death.
For those heading to the cinemas this weekend to witness the ooey, gooey glory of Together, we have rounded up some of the most disgusting body horror films you can stream right now – from 80s classics to controversial modern releases.
Before winning the hearts of audiences across the world in Jurassic Park, Jeff Goldblum disgusted cinemagoers in David Cronenberg's The Fly.
Loosely based on George Langelaan's 1957 short story and the 1958 film of the same name, the film tells the story of eccentric scientist Seth Brundle (Goldblum) who, after one of his experiments goes wrong, slowly turns into a fly-hybrid creature.
Where to watch: Disney Plus, Apple TV , Prime Video, and the Sky Store
One of the most famous sci-fi horror films of all time, 1982's The Thing features some truly groundbreaking body horror and special effects.
Directed by horror legend John Carpenter, it tells the story of a group of researchers in Antarctica who encounter an extra-terrestrial being that infects then assimilates its human hosts – leading to paranoia among the group as any one of them could be 'the Thing.'
Where to watch: Available to rent on Prime Video, Apple TV, and the Sky Store
Written and directed by Kevin Smith, Tusk was released in 2014 and centred on Wallace Bryton (Justin Long), the co-host of a viral video-mocking podcast who comes across a flyer from Howard Howe (Michael Parks) offering a room in exchange for hearing what he says to be interesting stories.
After accepting the man's offer, Wallace quickly finds himself in a life-threatening situation due to Howard's obsessions with a walrus named Mr Tusk who he says saved his life.
Where to watch: Prime Video, Apple TV, and the Sky Store
Shinya Tsukamoto's feature debut Tetsuo: The Iron Man would go down in history as one of the most influential films to come out of Japan.
It centres around an unnamed Japanese salaryman (Tomorô Taguchi) who slowly turns into a man-machine hybrid after accidentally killing a being known as The Metal Fetishist (Tsukamoto), and develops a hit-and-run victim who is undergoing a similar transformation.
Where to watch: Microsoft Store
The 'king of body horror' Cronenberg appears again on our list with his grim 1983 hit Videodrome.
Starring James Woods, Sonja Smits, and Debbie Harry, the film follows CIVIC-TV president Max Renn (Woods) as he attempts to uncover the signal source of a broadcast showing snuff films, but as he does so, he experiences intense hallucinations that cause his grasp of reality to falter.
Where to watch: Now TV, Sky Go, Prime Video, Apple TV, and the Sky Store
If you loved the light body horror in Barry Keoghan's smash hit Saltburn, 1992's Society, directed by Brian Yuzna, takes us into the secret world of the elite with plenty of twists and turns.
Its plot follows Beverly Hills teenager Bill Whitney (Billy Warlock) who begins to suspect that his wealthy family and friends are part of a gruesome cult for the social elite who engage in murderous orgies – but the truth, somehow, is far worse.
Where to watch: Arrow via Prime Video , Shudder via Prime Video, Apple TV, and the Sky Store
Jeffrey Combs, Barbara Crampton, Bruce Abbott, and David Gale all appear in Stuart Gordon's Re-Animator, a grotesque adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's 1922 novelette.
The infamous 1985 film follows medical students Herbert Wise (Combs) and Dan Cain (Abbott) who create a serum to reanimate the dead, bringing back Cain's fiancée (Crampton).
Where to watch: Available to rent via Apple TV
Though sci-fi body horror Invasion of the Body Snatchers first hit our screens in 1956, the 1978 remake by Philip Kaufman really kicks the scares up a notch.
When Elizabeth Driscoll (Brooke Adams) complains of her husband's strange mood, her co-worker Matthew Bennell (Donald Sutherland) assumes it's marital issues, but it soon becomes clear something more is afoot when writer Jack Bellicec (Jeff Goldblum) and his wife (Veronica Cartwright) discover a mutated corpse. More Trending
Where to watch: MGM+ via Prime Video, Apple TV, and the Sky Store
Last year, director Tom Six said his latest film may never be released because it is 'too extreme' – and as the creator of The Human Centipede, it's easy to imagine why.
The controversial film follows psychopathic surgeon Dr Josef Heiter (Dieter Laser) as he kidnaps tourists in a bid to conjoin them surgically, mouth to anus – and two similarly grotesque sequels follow with even longer centipedes to, erm, enjoy?
Where to watch: Shudder via Prime Video and Apple TV
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Time Out
2 hours ago
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The biggest superhero movie of the year has suddenly hit streaming – here's how to watch
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Scottish Sun
4 hours ago
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Sexualisation, Donald Trump & race rows – why Sydney Sweeney's backlash only makes her MORE valuable to brands
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) SHE'S one of America's fastest growing stars, but could controversy derail Sydney Sweeney's supersonic career? Showbiz writer Gemma Calvert takes a closer look at 2025's hottest property. 19 Could controversy derail Sydney Sweeney's supersonic career? Credit: getty 19 Sydney's American Eagle jeans ad sparked race rows Credit: American Eagle 19 Stunner Sydney stars as Olivia Mossbacher in Apple TV+'s The White Lotus Credit: White lotus Hollywood has fast become Sydney Sweeney's adventure playground. The 27-year-old actress shot to fame after she bagged the role of Cassie Howard in HBO's Euphoria, as well as Olivia Mossbacher in Apple TV+'s The White Lotus – and earned a Primetime Emmy nomination for both roles in 2022, along with a whole international fandom. Since then, Sydney's star has soared. She led and produced blockbuster romcom Anyone But You in 2023, and her latest projects include Apple TV+ series Echo Valley, playing Julianne Moore's devious but charismatic junkie daughter, plus Christy, a biopic of trailblazing American female boxer Christy Martin. But Sydney's rise hasn't been without controversy. Known for choosing roles that lean into hyper-sexualised archetypes, she's become a lightning rod for public debate. In her recent denim campaign for US leisurewear giant American Eagle, she stares into the camera and whispers: 'Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair colour, personality, and even eye colour. . . My jeans are blue.' The backlash when the ad dropped at the end of last month was swift. Critics accused the retailer – and Sydney – of racial insensitivity, even linking the 'great jeans' tagline to eugenics and Nazi ideology. Others called the campaign overly sexualised. However, many sprang to its defence, praising its boldness and blasting the outrage as overblown. When it emerged earlier this month that the actress is a registered Republican, President Trump praised her, saying: 'You'd be surprised at how many people are Republican. I'm glad you told me that. Clip of Sydney Sweeney at shooting range goes viral as her 'MAGA background' emerges after anti-woke ad and Trump praise 'If Sydney Sweeney is a registered Republican, I think her ad is fantastic.' Her personal life has sparked headlines, too. In 2022, Sydney shared photos from her mum Lisa's 60th birthday party – a hoedown-themed bash that featured guests in MAGA-style hats with one guest wearing a shirt with the words 'Blue Lives Matter' on it, a term that emerged in 2014 to show support to the police, in opposition to the Black Lives Matter movement. Sydney later hit back, urging people to 'stop making assumptions' and insisting it was nothing more than a family celebration. And rather than holding her back, the backlash may be propelling her forward. Let's be honest – controversy has made her more interesting Stacy Jones, founder of LA branding agency Hollywood Branded 'Let's be honest – controversy has made her more interesting,' says Stacy Jones, founder of LA branding agency Hollywood Branded. 'The family politics thing didn't derail her and this recent backlash over the American Eagle ad? If anything, it proved she's not just a celebrity, she's a cultural touchpoint. Sydney's not just valuable – she's volatile in the best way. She drives real conversation, and that's currency. She goes viral for what she wears, says and does. She stirs emotion and she trends. That's what marketers are actually buying – not just demographics, but cultural gravity.' Stacy adds: 'In a world where no one agrees on anything, being part of the conversation is sometimes better than being universally liked.' 'People believe I've signed my life away because I'm an actor' Much of the scrutiny around Sydney revolves around her physical appearance, which has fanned debates about the double standards that women face in Hollywood. While male actors are celebrated for their talent or transformative roles, Sydney – much like Scarlett Johansson before her – is often reduced to headlines about her curves. Take the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, when Sydney arrived in a plunging silk gown by Miu Miu, layered over a powder-blue bra. Rather than seen as a bold fashion statement, the look was labelled a 'wardrobe malfunction', showing how confident styling choices can be quickly reframed as inappropriate. 'There's not anything I can do,' Sydney told NME in 2023, acknowledging the pressure of constant objectification. Later, she told Variety: 'People feel connected and free to be able to speak about me in whatever way they want, because they believe that I've signed my life away. That I'm not on a human level any more, because I'm an actor.' 19 Sweeney flaunts her amazing figure for her loving social media fans Credit: Sydney Sweeney 19 The actress pictured with her pup Credit: Sydney Sweeney 19 The 27-year-old actress shot to fame after she bagged the role of Cassie Howard in HBO's Euphoria Credit: EUPhORIA Sydney's hosting stint on Saturday Night Live last March only intensified the conversation. Dressed in a Hooters waitress uniform for multiple sketches, she embraced the caricature of her public image, even joking the job was her 'back-up career.' Conservative critics quickly dubbed the moment a flashback to pre #MeToo attitudes. One commentator even described her breasts as the 'double-D harbingers of the death of woke'. Sydney's response? A tongue-in-cheek sweatshirt that read: 'Sorry For Having Great Tits And Correct Opinions'. Then in June, she partnered with Dr Squatch to launch $8 soap bars infused with her actual bathwater – a move some interpreted as a bold, satirical poke at the objectification she often faces. Steering her ship through the sea of entertainment with self-awareness and humour is a savvy move, says Nick Ede, one of the UK's leading brand and culture experts and founder of Joyfulness Studios. 'What's great about Sydney is she embodies her generation and doesn't try to alienate herself from it,' says Nick. 'She wants to be relatable and lean into the stereotypes that she portrays, or is seen to portray. She isn't scared to be honest about who she is and has a unique way of being self-aware. She can laugh at herself, too. This allows her to manage her narrative, especially on social media. Her bathwater soap shows she's in on the journey as much as her fans or her critics.' Sydney is a rare Hollywood breed who manages her own social media content and, according to Stefanie Davis Kempton – an assistant professor of communication at Florida Gulf Coast University specialising in women's representation in the media – retaining control is vital for stars like her. 'Young women, especially, can be easy targets to become puppets and lose control of their own personal brand for the sake of corporate greed,' says Stefanie. What's great about Sydney is she embodies her generation and doesn't try to alienate herself from it Nick Ede, brand and culture expert 'It happens all the time, as women's voices have been historically marginalised. In today's age of social media, your identity is your brand and that brand can be worth a lot of money, but it can also be sabotaged if left in the wrong hands. Having control of your own voice, body, image and likeness is so critically important.' Launching her own production company, Fifty-Fifty Films, in 2020, was Sydney's creative solution to that problem, taking her from actor for hire to industry powerhouse. Dedicated to adapting stories by first-time female authors and up-and-coming screenwriters, she told Teen Vogue: 'I'm a big advocate for making sure everybody's voice is heard.' But carving out creative space hasn't been easy. In an interview with The Times earlier this year, Sydney admitted she's not always taken seriously as a producer, especially, she noted, by 'women who give me the hardest time.' Speaking on Josh Horowitz's Happy Sad Confused podcast in March 2024, Sydney confessed that 'the roles that are challenging or creatively fulfilling are usually the ones that you have to fight for.' She went on to explain in The Times that casting directors often dismiss her due to her performance as Cassie, her overtly sexualised character in Euphoria, a role she reprised earlier this year for the long-awaited third season, due for release in 2026. 'I feel like I'm constantly having to be like: 'No, no – I'm an actor,'' she said. 'I'm supposed to play different characters.' That philosophy also extends to red-carpet appearances and talk-show interviews, spaces where Sydney says she feels most uncomfortable. To manage her nerves, she inhabits personas in the way she would on set, a place she describes as her 'playground' and where she feels 'at home'. Indeed, Sydney was just 10 when she discovered her love of performance at the family home in Spokane, Washington, on the Idaho border. There, she would build imaginary worlds and put on performances for her parents – her mum Lisa, a former criminal defence lawyer, and dad Steven, a pharmaceutical rep. 'Nothing I could do to help' She recently told Glamour that acting became a 'full-on obsession' alongside childhood passions like river swimming and hiking. Electronic devices, meanwhile, were banned by her parents so, as a teen, Sydney secretly streamed episodes of The Secret Life Of The American Teenager. When a low-budget zombie film began shooting in her town, Sydney persuaded her parents to let her audition by pitching them a PowerPoint five-year acting plan. It worked two-fold. She auditioned, then landed a small part in 2010 film ZMD: Zombies Of Mass Destruction. From there she began auditioning whenever possible – first in Seattle and Portland, and eventually in Los Angeles, travelling the gruelling 2,400-mile round trip every time by car. 'I owe everything to them,' she said of her parents on Happy Sad Confused, crediting them as her earliest champions. I thought that if I made enough money, I'd be able to buy my parents' house back and put my family back together Sydney Sweeney When Sydney became a victim of bullying at her private school – an education funded by financial aid – her parents home-schooled her for a while, before selling the family home and moving to LA to further her acting dreams. 19 Syd wearing that bra-exposing outfit at Cannes Film Festival Credit: GETTY 19 The star in The Handmaid's Tale, 2018 Credit: The Handmaid's tale 19 In a Hooters sketch for SNL Credit: GETTY But the move, when Sydney was 13, came at a price. Living costs proved too high and the family, including her younger brother Trent, found themselves crammed into a single motel room. By 2016, her parents had filed for both bankruptcy and divorce. Sydney, working $100-a-day acting jobs, cleaning bathrooms and babysitting, continued to dream of a breakthrough that might solve all their problems. 'I thought that if I made enough money, I'd be able to buy my parents' house back and put my family back together,' she told The Hollywood Reporter in 2022. 'But when I turned 18, I only had $800 to my name. My parents weren't back together. And there was nothing I could do to help.' Her longed-for break finally came in 2018, with roles in Marti Noxon's Sharp Objects and Netflix's Everything Sucks!, followed by a standout appearance in The Handmaid's Tale, and then Euphoria. Now reportedly worth over £30million, Sydney has built a brand empire, thanks to endorsement deals from Miu Miu to Kérastase. And her financial clout is set to grow even more with the launch of her lingerie line, backed by a $1.5billion investment from her pal, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell. That Bezos connection, insiders say, is also making Sydney a frontrunner for the next Bond girl role, now the movie is under Amazon MGM's creative control. 'Sydney's DMs are packed with messages from famous men' As well as clearing her mum's mortgage, Sydney has built an impressive property portfolio with her fortune. She has two homes in LA, her primary residence is a £10million Florida beachfront mansion, plus she repurchased her great-grandmother's former house in 2023, years after the family was forced to sell it. Now, Sydney is dreaming of a different kind of legacy. 'I want to have a family. I've always wanted to be a young mom,' she told The Hollywood Reporter in 2022, while still in a seven-year relationship with her businessman fiancé, Jonathan Davino. When the pair called off their engagement earlier this year, speculation mounted of romance between Sydney and her Anyone But You co-star Glen Powell, which they later admitted they allowed to swirl to help promote the film. But despite sightings with Orlando Bloom and Tom Brady at Jeff Bezos' Venice wedding in June, insiders say Sydney's single by choice. 'I'm learning a lot about myself, spending more time with my friends. And I'm loving it,' she told The Times in May. That's not to say she isn't without plenty of admirers – The Sun revealed that Premier League players from Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal have all slid into her DMs to ask her out. But despite the offers, she has politely declined. An insider said: 'Her Instagram DMs are packed with messages from famous men trying to get in contact with her. 19 With her Anyone But You co-star Glen Powell Credit: GETTY 19 Sydney and ex-fiancé Jonathan Davino Credit: GETTY 19 Sydney and brother Trent with their mum Lisa at her controversial 60th birthday party Credit: trent Sweeney They offer her trips to Europe to see them and take her on a date, but she's not the kind of person who does that. 'Some of them are very insistent and have even tried to find her address to send her flowers, but she always refuses.' Behind the scenes, Sydney is an 'avid bookreader', trained MMA fighter and vintage car restorer – a hobby she calls her 'therapy' and documents for 1.9 million followers on her TikTok @Syds_garage. Whether she's creating or courting controversy, on-screen or off, Sydney Sweeney isn't just tagging along for the ride, she's firmly in the driver's seat of her extraordinary life. Sydney's sizzling style 19 In 2019, rocking a red Rosario dress at a Harper's Bazaar party Credit: GETTY 19 Wearing Alexander McQueen at a Variety event in 2023 Credit: GETTY 19 Pretty in Prada at The White Lotus premiere in 2021 Credit: GETTY 19 In a bouquet-style top by Balmain, last year Credit: GETTY 19 In LaQuan Smith at 2022's GQ Men Of The Year Awards Credit: GETTY 19 Wearing Miu Miu and a black wig at the 2024 Met Gala Credit: GETTY
The Sun
4 hours ago
- The Sun
Sexualisation, Donald Trump & race rows – why Sydney Sweeney's backlash only makes her MORE valuable to brands
SHE'S one of America's fastest growing stars, but could controversy derail Sydney Sweeney's supersonic career? Showbiz writer Gemma Calvert takes a closer look at 2025's hottest property. 19 19 Hollywood has fast become Sydney Sweeney's adventure playground. The 27-year-old actress shot to fame after she bagged the role of Cassie Howard in HBO's Euphoria, as well as Olivia Mossbacher in Apple TV+'s The White Lotus – and earned a Primetime Emmy nomination for both roles in 2022, along with a whole international fandom. Since then, Sydney's star has soared. She led and produced blockbuster romcom Anyone But You in 2023, and her latest projects include Apple TV+ series Echo Valley, playing Julianne Moore's devious but charismatic junkie daughter, plus Christy, a biopic of trailblazing American female boxer Christy Martin. But Sydney's rise hasn't been without controversy. Known for choosing roles that lean into hyper-sexualised archetypes, she's become a lightning rod for public debate. In her recent denim campaign for US leisurewear giant American Eagle, she stares into the camera and whispers: 'Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair colour, personality, and even eye colour. . . My jeans are blue.' The backlash when the ad dropped at the end of last month was swift. Critics accused the retailer – and Sydney – of racial insensitivity, even linking the 'great jeans' tagline to eugenics and Nazi ideology. Others called the campaign overly sexualised. However, many sprang to its defence, praising its boldness and blasting the outrage as overblown. When it emerged earlier this month that the actress is a registered Republican, President Trump praised her, saying: 'You'd be surprised at how many people are Republican. I'm glad you told me that. Clip of Sydney Sweeney at shooting range goes viral as her 'MAGA background' emerges after anti-woke ad and Trump praise 'If Sydney Sweeney is a registered Republican, I think her ad is fantastic.' Her personal life has sparked headlines, too. In 2022, Sydney shared photos from her mum Lisa's 60th birthday party – a hoedown-themed bash that featured guests in MAGA-style hats with one guest wearing a shirt with the words 'Blue Lives Matter' on it, a term that emerged in 2014 to show support to the police, in opposition to the Black Lives Matter movement. Sydney later hit back, urging people to 'stop making assumptions' and insisting it was nothing more than a family celebration. And rather than holding her back, the backlash may be propelling her forward. 'Let's be honest – controversy has made her more interesting,' says Stacy Jones, founder of LA branding agency Hollywood Branded. 'The family politics thing didn't derail her and this recent backlash over the American Eagle ad? If anything, it proved she's not just a celebrity, she's a cultural touchpoint. Sydney's not just valuable – she's volatile in the best way. She drives real conversation, and that's currency. She goes viral for what she wears, says and does. She stirs emotion and she trends. That's what marketers are actually buying – not just demographics, but cultural gravity.' Stacy adds: 'In a world where no one agrees on anything, being part of the conversation is sometimes better than being universally liked.' 'People believe I've signed my life away because I'm an actor' Much of the scrutiny around Sydney revolves around her physical appearance, which has fanned debates about the double standards that women face in Hollywood. While male actors are celebrated for their talent or transformative roles, Sydney – much like Scarlett Johansson before her – is often reduced to headlines about her curves. Take the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, when Sydney arrived in a plunging silk gown by Miu Miu, layered over a powder-blue bra. Rather than seen as a bold fashion statement, the look was labelled a 'wardrobe malfunction', showing how confident styling choices can be quickly reframed as inappropriate. 'There's not anything I can do,' Sydney told NME in 2023, acknowledging the pressure of constant objectification. Later, she told Variety: 'People feel connected and free to be able to speak about me in whatever way they want, because they believe that I've signed my life away. That I'm not on a human level any more, because I'm an actor.' 19 19 19 Sydney's hosting stint on Saturday Night Live last March only intensified the conversation. Dressed in a Hooters waitress uniform for multiple sketches, she embraced the caricature of her public image, even joking the job was her 'back-up career.' Conservative critics quickly dubbed the moment a flashback to pre #MeToo attitudes. One commentator even described her breasts as the 'double-D harbingers of the death of woke'. Sydney's response? A tongue-in-cheek sweatshirt that read: 'Sorry For Having Great Tits And Correct Opinions'. Then in June, she partnered with Dr Squatch to launch $8 soap bars infused with her actual bathwater – a move some interpreted as a bold, satirical poke at the objectification she often faces. Steering her ship through the sea of entertainment with self-awareness and humour is a savvy move, says Nick Ede, one of the UK's leading brand and culture experts and founder of Joyfulness Studios. 'What's great about Sydney is she embodies her generation and doesn't try to alienate herself from it,' says Nick. 'She wants to be relatable and lean into the stereotypes that she portrays, or is seen to portray. She isn't scared to be honest about who she is and has a unique way of being self-aware. She can laugh at herself, too. This allows her to manage her narrative, especially on social media. Her bathwater soap shows she's in on the journey as much as her fans or her critics.' Sydney is a rare Hollywood breed who manages her own social media content and, according to Stefanie Davis Kempton – an assistant professor of communication at Florida Gulf Coast University specialising in women's representation in the media – retaining control is vital for stars like her. 'Young women, especially, can be easy targets to become puppets and lose control of their own personal brand for the sake of corporate greed,' says Stefanie. What's great about Sydney is she embodies her generation and doesn't try to alienate herself from it Nick Ede, brand and culture expert 'It happens all the time, as women's voices have been historically marginalised. In today's age of social media, your identity is your brand and that brand can be worth a lot of money, but it can also be sabotaged if left in the wrong hands. Having control of your own voice, body, image and likeness is so critically important.' Launching her own production company, Fifty-Fifty Films, in 2020, was Sydney's creative solution to that problem, taking her from actor for hire to industry powerhouse. Dedicated to adapting stories by first-time female authors and up-and-coming screenwriters, she told Teen Vogue: 'I'm a big advocate for making sure everybody's voice is heard.' But carving out creative space hasn't been easy. In an interview with The Times earlier this year, Sydney admitted she's not always taken seriously as a producer, especially, she noted, by 'women who give me the hardest time.' Speaking on Josh Horowitz's Happy Sad Confused podcast in March 2024, Sydney confessed that 'the roles that are challenging or creatively fulfilling are usually the ones that you have to fight for.' She went on to explain in The Times that casting directors often dismiss her due to her performance as Cassie, her overtly sexualised character in Euphoria, a role she reprised earlier this year for the long-awaited third season, due for release in 2026. 'I feel like I'm constantly having to be like: 'No, no – I'm an actor,'' she said. 'I'm supposed to play different characters.' That philosophy also extends to red-carpet appearances and talk-show interviews, spaces where Sydney says she feels most uncomfortable. To manage her nerves, she inhabits personas in the way she would on set, a place she describes as her 'playground' and where she feels 'at home'. Indeed, Sydney was just 10 when she discovered her love of performance at the family home in Spokane, Washington, on the Idaho border. There, she would build imaginary worlds and put on performances for her parents – her mum Lisa, a former criminal defence lawyer, and dad Steven, a pharmaceutical rep. 'Nothing I could do to help' She recently told Glamour that acting became a 'full-on obsession' alongside childhood passions like river swimming and hiking. Electronic devices, meanwhile, were banned by her parents so, as a teen, Sydney secretly streamed episodes of The Secret Life Of The American Teenager. When a low-budget zombie film began shooting in her town, Sydney persuaded her parents to let her audition by pitching them a PowerPoint five-year acting plan. It worked two-fold. She auditioned, then landed a small part in 2010 film ZMD: Zombies Of Mass Destruction. From there she began auditioning whenever possible – first in Seattle and Portland, and eventually in Los Angeles, travelling the gruelling 2,400-mile round trip every time by car. 'I owe everything to them,' she said of her parents on Happy Sad Confused, crediting them as her earliest champions. I thought that if I made enough money, I'd be able to buy my parents' house back and put my family back together Sydney Sweeney When Sydney became a victim of bullying at her private school – an education funded by financial aid – her parents home-schooled her for a while, before selling the family home and moving to LA to further her acting dreams. 19 19 19 But the move, when Sydney was 13, came at a price. Living costs proved too high and the family, including her younger brother Trent, found themselves crammed into a single motel room. By 2016, her parents had filed for both bankruptcy and divorce. Sydney, working $100-a-day acting jobs, cleaning bathrooms and babysitting, continued to dream of a breakthrough that might solve all their problems. 'I thought that if I made enough money, I'd be able to buy my parents' house back and put my family back together,' she told The Hollywood Reporter in 2022. 'But when I turned 18, I only had $800 to my name. My parents weren't back together. And there was nothing I could do to help.' Her longed-for break finally came in 2018, with roles in Marti Noxon's Sharp Objects and Netflix's Everything Sucks!, followed by a standout appearance in The Handmaid's Tale, and then Euphoria. Now reportedly worth over £30million, Sydney has built a brand empire, thanks to endorsement deals from Miu Miu to Kérastase. And her financial clout is set to grow even more with the launch of her lingerie line, backed by a $1.5billion investment from her pal, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell. That Bezos connection, insiders say, is also making Sydney a frontrunner for the next Bond girl role, now the movie is under Amazon MGM's creative control. 'Sydney's DMs are packed with messages from famous men' As well as clearing her mum's mortgage, Sydney has built an impressive property portfolio with her fortune. She has two homes in LA, her primary residence is a £10million Florida beachfront mansion, plus she repurchased her great-grandmother's former house in 2023, years after the family was forced to sell it. Now, Sydney is dreaming of a different kind of legacy. 'I want to have a family. I've always wanted to be a young mom,' she told The Hollywood Reporter in 2022, while still in a seven-year relationship with her businessman fiancé, Jonathan Davino. When the pair called off their engagement earlier this year, speculation mounted of romance between Sydney and her Anyone But You co-star Glen Powell, which they later admitted they allowed to swirl to help promote the film. But despite sightings with Orlando Bloom and Tom Brady at Jeff Bezos' Venice wedding in June, insiders say Sydney's single by choice. 'I'm learning a lot about myself, spending more time with my friends. And I'm loving it,' she told The Times in May. That's not to say she isn't without plenty of admirers – The Sun revealed that Premier League players from Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal have all slid into her DMs to ask her out. But despite the offers, she has politely declined. An insider said: 'Her Instagram DMs are packed with messages from famous men trying to get in contact with her. 19 19 They offer her trips to Europe to see them and take her on a date, but she's not the kind of person who does that. 'Some of them are very insistent and have even tried to find her address to send her flowers, but she always refuses.' Behind the scenes, Sydney is an 'avid bookreader', trained MMA fighter and vintage car restorer – a hobby she calls her 'therapy' and documents for 1.9 million followers on her TikTok @Syds_garage. Whether she's creating or courting controversy, on-screen or off, Sydney Sweeney isn't just tagging along for the ride, she's firmly in the driver's seat of her extraordinary life. Sydney's sizzling style 19 19 19 19 19
