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Irish Examiner
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Sydney Sweeney: the Hollywood up-and-comer who started a culture war
Almost exactly three years ago, in July 2022, the actor Sydney Sweeney gave an interview to the Hollywood Reporter that was refreshingly frank about finances. At the time, Ms Sweeney was 24, fresh off the contentious buzz of Euphoria's second season, and undeniably on the up in Hollywood as one of gen Z's very few in-demand actors. And yet, as she told the magazine, she did not have the money to cover even a six-month break from the industry. Unlike some of her Euphoria peers, Ms Sweeney is not a nepo baby; she was raised middle-class in northern Idaho and Spokane, Washington, and began working as a child actor at 13. She acted continuously throughout her teens — on Criminal Minds and Grey's Anatomy, then small roles on prestige projects like Sharp Objects, The Handmaid's Tale and Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood — because there was no fallback cushion. 'I don't have someone supporting me, I don't have anyone I can turn to, to pay my bills or call for help,' she said. Even after working on a hit HBO show, which did allow her to buy a house in LA, money was tight. 'They don't pay actors like they used to, and with streamers, you no longer get residuals,' Ms Sweeney explained. 'The established stars still get paid, but I have to give 5% to my lawyer, 10% to my agents, 3% or something like that to my business manager. I have to pay my publicist every month, and that's more than my mortgage.' Ms Sweeney spoke with the authority and detail of someone who actually had to review her budget every month — for the stylist, the publicist, the makeup, the travel, the unspoken demands of being a fame-aiming young actor in the Instagram age, and particularly a young beautiful woman. Hence, her many brand deals — Miu Miu, Armani, Laneige. 'If I just acted, I wouldn't be able to afford my life in LA,' she said. 'I take deals because I have to.' I still think about this interview whenever Sweeney's name comes up, which is too often lately. For one, it's still the most transparent I've ever heard an actor of her cohort be about money — no one is talking about paying their publicist or their mortgage — and two, it helps explain her increasingly omnipresent and fractious brand deals that have arguably eclipsed her acting work. Ms Sweeney doesn't just rep high-end fashion labels like Miu Miu, typical for actors attempting to enter the rarefied field of movie stardom; she's now also selling soap allegedly containing a 'touch' of her bathwater for Dr Squatch, ice-cream for Baskin-Robbins, and fuzzy pink loafers for who knows who. Sydney Sweeney in American Eagle Jeans. You may have heard that she's recently found herself in the culture-war crosshairs over some ads for American Eagle. As the camera pans over a horizontal Ms Sweeney zipping up her tight blue jeans, she says in typical monotone: 'Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair colour, personality, and even eye colour. My jeans are blue.' Another spot finds her admonishing a wandering camera away from her two most talked-about assets — 'eyes up here'. The ad, predictably, caused a stir on an internet where everything is now ragebait – the posting left said its invocation of Americana and 'great genes' dogwhistled white supremacy, the Maga right celebrated it as a nail in the coffin of 'wokeness'. (For what it's worth, American Eagle has said that the campaign 'is and always was about the jeans'.) Mr Trump posted about it on Truth Social. And all of that was before it was revealed that Ms Sweeney registered as a Republican in Florida in June 2024. All of this, it must be noted, has happened without Ms Sweeney publicly saying a thing. (One can assume, based on her comments about money and an old social media brouhaha about Maga family members, that she supported Donald Trump in 2024, and that she moved to Florida for tax reasons. But until Sweeney confirms anything, these remain assumptions.) How does a relatively successful Hollywood actor with at least one box office hit under her belt — that would be the middling but popular 2024 romcom Anyone But You — end up this polarising? Two separate but inextricable things: an incendiary combination of social media's death spiral into hollow, fleeting culture wars, and a career spent walking the perilously thin line between poking fun at male egos and inflating them. The former is more easily identified — the internet culture Substack Garbage Day traced the American Eagle controversy to a familiar pattern of activity on X, a site that is a fraction of the size it used to be and is now about 75% bots; the remaining holdouts are 'conservative aggregators, business world influencers, celebrity stan accounts, and libs who won't leave the site and still post like it's 2018'. The ad, an artless mix of lowest-common-denominator triggers, worked on all four groups. The cycle frothed enough on X over a weekend to get picked up by Fox News, then the most smug Maga politicians looking for a dunk, and then, inevitably, the president who must always get in on the attention. In the posting economy, all that matters is that the controversy feels real, and everyone is talking about it. Whatever the actual size of the outrage — I, for one, sense more fatigue than actual anger — the chatter does represent a natural endpoint to Ms Sweeney's longstanding tactic of being the first to acknowledge, and now bank on, male attention on her breasts, and to be ruthlessly pragmatic about business. Both are dubious tactics with, I'd argue, diminishing returns. I have been a fan of Ms Sweeney's since she broke out as a terrifyingly droll gen Z menace on the first season of The White Lotus in 2021, and I date the shift to 2022, around the time of that landmark THR interview. When I interviewed Ms Sweeney in 2021, the then-23-year-old was as open about her business ambitions — getting a bachelor's degree to prevent getting 'fucked over' by contract negotiations, producing her own projects — as she was wary about the internet's outrage machine. She was promoting her erotic thriller The Voyeurs, in which she appeared nude, and dealing with the aftermath of nude screenshots from Euphoria making the rounds online. Her strategy for handling it all, she told me, was dissociation: 'I never actually put Syd out there,' she said. 'No one really knows Syd.' In the years since, Ms Sweeney seems to have adopted a more offensive approach to the attention — and her elevation by the male right as, to quote the New Yorker's Lauren Michele Jackson, 'rejoicing in a perceived return to a bygone beauty standard in the wake of all that overzealous feminism they blame on the left' — by turning it into money and a punchline. Sydney Sweeney attending the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in 2024. She poked fun at boob fixation with a Hooters skit on SNL; she wore a sweatshirt blaring 'SORRY FOR HAVING GREAT TITS AND CORRECT OPINIONS'; she routinely addresses the boobs in the room with a broad-like confidence. 'The biggest misconception about me is that I'm a dumb blonde with big tits,' she said in an interview last year. 'I'm naturally a brunette.' Cue laughs. Sydney Sweeney as Cecilia in Immaculate. At the same time, she's exemplified the pop feminist mantra of getting one's bag — starring in the dreadful Madame Web was a 'business decision' to network with Sony execs and get her planned Barbarella remake greenlit and Anyone But You sold, which she successfully marketed on her own TikTok. Taking every brand deal while producing would-be auteur horror with Immaculate. All of this has, unfortunately, overshadowed a promising dramatic acting career, as demonstrated by a remarkable turn in Reality, as a real-life whistleblower brimming with anxiety and righteousness; in The Voyeurs, a throwback erotic thriller that would have made more of a splash had it not been dropped on Amazon; on Euphoria, where she imbued the beleaguered Cassie with a real sense of teenage volatility. Amid the political controversy, Ms Sweeney remains, as ever, booked and busy. She's making an awards play with Christy, as the 90s boxer Christy Martin, aiming critical buzz with The Housemaid, Paul Feig's film alongside Amanda Seyfried. She's locked down two huge video game remakes with Michael Bay and Jon M Chu, secured the role of 50s bombshell Kim Novak in Colman Domingo's directorial debut Scandalous!, and just appeared alongside Julianne Moore in yet another forgettable Apple TV+ film. On the acting side, she's still the young woman from three years ago, clear-eyed about the industry, trying everything, lining up the work. For all our sakes, let's hope the conversation gets back there, too. The Guardian
Time of India
25-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Do you know where Sydney Sweeney studied before landing her breakout role in Euphoria?
Before Sydney Sweeney became a breakout star in Euphoria , she was just another student trying to make it work at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She wasn't there long, but that brief stint in college says more about her than most people realise. While her Hollywood career was quietly gaining momentum, Sydney Sweeney was still showing up for lectures, balancing shoots with robotics and math club. For someone who grew up in a small town, pitched her parents a five-year plan to start acting, and graduated valedictorian, college wasn't just a backup. It was part of the plan. It's easy to overlook the academic layer in Sydney Sweeney's story, now that her name is linked to red carpets and leading roles. But her education choices and career path reflect the same strategic mindset that has defined her rise in Hollywood. The five-year business plan Sweeney was born in Spokane, Washington. Her mother was a criminal defense lawyer and her father worked in hospitality. Young Sydney was, in her words, 'in every single sport possible.' From slalom skiing to wakeboarding, Sweeney's early life reads like a catalog of high-octane curiosity. What's lesser known is how early her sense of direction kicked in. After getting cast as an extra in an indie film shooting near Spokane, she didn't just beg her parents to let her try acting. She pitched them a five-year business plan. Soon, the family was traveling between Portland and Seattle for commercial gigs, before relocating to Los Angeles when she was 13. From robotics to red carpets While chasing roles in TV and film, Sweeney still kept one foot in academics. She joined the robotics team in high school, was a member of the math club, and graduated as valedictorian from Brighton Hall School in Burbank. For a brief time, she also attended UCLA, a fact that rarely surfaces in the fast-cut narratives of her career but adds context to her disciplined climb. That same discipline would shape her early acting resume. Long before the Emmy nominations and luxury brand endorsements, she was racking up guest roles in 90210, Grey's Anatomy, Criminal Minds, and Pretty Little Liars. Her big year came in 2018 when she balanced two major shows, Everything Sucks! and Sharp Objects, filming one during the week and the other on weekends. Her character in Sharp Objects was originally written as minor, but her performance kept her on set longer. Directors took notice, so did audiences. Building more than a resume Then came Euphoria. Her portrayal of 'Cassie' earned her a Primetime Emmy nomination and cemented her status as a breakout star. That same year, she launched her production company, Fifty-Fifty Films, with a clear intent: to create roles and stories on her own terms. From there, the pace quickened. She portrayed 'Eden' in The Handmaid's Tale, starred in The White Lotus, and took on more demanding projects, where critics described her as 'the real deal.' She voiced a song intro, hosted Saturday Night Live, and even restored a 1969 Ford Bronco. Somewhere in between, she also became a brand ambassador for Armani Beauty and Laneige. But the most compelling parts of Sweeney's journey are not just the glossy career milestones. They're the quieter moves, the five-year plan she pitched as a teen, the robotics club, the short stint at UCLA, and the mindset that treating acting like a business was non-negotiable. Whether she's producing horror films or co-starring in biopics and thrillers, she's been building more than a career. In 2025, Sweeney is not just an actress with a fanbase. She's also a producer and someone who once saw education not as an escape from Hollywood but as a way to power through it. So yes, she did go to UCLA. Briefly. And no, Euphoria wasn't just a lucky break. It was the result of a carefully crafted plan, one she's still revising, producing, and starring in. TOI Education is on WhatsApp now. Follow us here . Ready to navigate global policies? Secure your overseas future. Get expert guidance now!
Indian Express
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Sydney Sweeney opens up about leaked Euphoria 3 picture, says her character Cassie ‘is worse than ever'
Actor Sydney Sweeney knows how to break the internet in more than one way, sometimes with her roles, other times with everything she does outside the set. While she had started making a name for herself through several TV series such as The Handmaid's Tale, Sharp Objects and Everything Sucks, the gig that transformed her into a household name was her role as Cassie in the HBO series Euphoria. She recently made an appearance on the Tonight Show where she talked about leaks from the upcoming season and gave a small glimpse into what's next. Sweeney, who was talking about her new dog, was put on the spot by Jimmy Fallon when he asked her about Euphoria season 3. She admitted that shooting was underway and that she couldn't reveal anything about the story, but then Jimmy took out a picture that got leaked, reportedly, from the sets of the show. In the picture you can clearly see Sydney in a wedding dress. Sydney said, 'I can neither confirm nor deny that she gets married in the next season. What I can admit is that she is more crazy than ever. She is so much worse than before, but that is everyone's favourite version of her.' She even tried to brush off the rumours by saying that the picture could be AI, but Jimmy was having none of it. ALSO READ | Dakota Johnson distances herself from Madame Web debacle, blames it on people 'who don't have a creative bone in their body Syndey Sweeney also sent fans and the rest of the internet into a frenzy when she announced a collaboration with personal care product company Dr. Squatch. The company launched a limited edition soap that was infused with the actor's bathwater, and while the Anyone But You actor faced some flack over this decision, fans were definitely excited for the product. Even famous YouTube star Mr Beast was hounded with requests by fans to buy them the soap, and he had to ask them to stop. Euphoria premiered in 2019, and the second season of the show came out in 2022. Created by Sam Levinson, the cast of the series also includes Zendaya, Jacob Elordi, Hunter Schafer, Maude Apatow, Alexa Demie, Eric Dane, and Austin Abrams, among others.
Miami Herald
30-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Miami Herald
How to Get Sydney Sweeney's Bathwater Soap: Competition and Release Date
Actor Sydney Sweeney has released a limited-edition soap made with water from her own bath, and some fans are in a real lather about the product, desperate to get their hands on it. Sweeney, who starred in the first White Lotus series, partnered with natural body care brand Dr. Squatch to produce Sydney's Bathwater Bliss, priced at around $8 per bar. A promotion campaign is giving away 100 as competition prizes. One keen customer wrote on Instagram: "Made with your actual bath water? Lol. That's awesome! ... Let's go @sydney_sweeney." Not all fans have been impressed though, one saying: "Sydney honey I love you but I don't know about this." Another wrote: "Geez this is literally sad for humanity." The collaboration is soaking up the comments section of Sweeney's Instagram posts. Excited male fans are drooling over the star, and offended feminists are concerned about her "stimulation of the male gaze" and "promotion of a female stereotype." One user appeared to suggest the collaboration could have wider repercussions on gender issues, writing: "we're never making it out of the patriarchy." While Sweeney voiced her excitement about this latest collaboration, she has previously spoken out about the way the world views her body. She told Variety in March 2024: "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 anymore, because I'm an actor. That these characters are for everybody else, but then me as Sydney is not for me anymore. It's this weird relationship that people have with me that I have no control or say over." Sweeney, 27, is recently single, and has also featured in TV shows including Euphoria and Sharp Objects. Her movies, across a wide range of genres, include rom-com Anyone But You, horror movie Immaculate, and action film Madam Web. This collaboration is in response to fan curiosity sparked by a previous advertisement by Dr. Squatch, the men's natural products store. It features Sweeney soaking in a candlelit bathtub, and playful banter from fans about her bathwater, led to the creation of the unconventional product. Dr Squatch wrote in an Instagram announcement: "In collaboration with Sydney Sweeney, we created a limited-edition soap infused with her ACTUAL bathwater. Why? Because y'all wouldn't stop asking. And Sydney said, 'Let's do it.' (what a legend)" The actor is not the first person to commercialize her bathwater. In 2019, an adult content star, Belle Delphine, sold jars of hers for $43 a piece, according to a report by the New York Post. Sydney's Bathwater Bliss is set to launch on June 6, 2025, and there will be 100 winners in a competition to get a bar for free. Each bar is crafted with natural ingredients, including exfoliating sand, shea butter, and a touch of Sweeney's bathwater, which Dr. Squatch's website said was "one of nature's finest aphrodisiacs." It has a medium grit level, and the men's care brand said the bar smells like "morning wood," adding this included notes of pine, Douglas fir, and earthy moss. Either follow Dr. Squatch's Instagram account and leave a comment, or you can fill out a form on its website. The product giveaway ends on June 4, and winners will be messaged or emailed from June 6. Dr. Squatch said consumers would also be able to buy the product, although there is a very limited stock, reports saying only 5,000 bars have been made. The men's care brand wrote: "But can I buy one?' Not yet … but we'll have a VERY limited stock when they do drop! Keep an eye out for an announcement." Winners of the competition will find out on June 6, and fans will be able to purchase the product soon Dr. Squatch said, adding it would be providing a further announcement in due course. Related Articles Hotel Guard Suspended, Accused of Asking Woman in Bathroom to Prove GenderBetter Office Bathrooms Can Improve Attendance and InclusionBathroom Renovation Disaster Leaves Internet In Stitches: 'Serial Killer Setup'Man Spends All Day Tiling Shower, Then Realizes Mistake-'Is it Noticeable?' 2025 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.
Newsweek
30-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Newsweek
How to Get Sydney Sweeney's Bathwater Soap: Competition and Release Date
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Actor Sydney Sweeney has released a limited-edition soap made with water from her own bath, and some fans are in a real lather about the product, desperate to get their hands on it. Sweeney, who starred in the first White Lotus series, partnered with natural body care brand Dr. Squatch to produce Sydney's Bathwater Bliss, priced at around $8 per bar. A promotion campaign is giving away 100 as competition prizes. One keen customer wrote on Instagram: "Made with your actual bath water? Lol. That's awesome! ... Let's go @sydney_sweeney." Not all fans have been impressed though, one saying: "Sydney honey I love you but I don't know about this." Another wrote: "Geez this is literally sad for humanity." The collaboration is soaking up the comments section of Sweeney's Instagram posts. Excited male fans are drooling over the star, and offended feminists are concerned about her "stimulation of the male gaze" and "promotion of a female stereotype." One user appeared to suggest the collaboration could have wider repercussions on gender issues, writing: "we're never making it out of the patriarchy." While Sweeney voiced her excitement about this latest collaboration, she has previously spoken out about the way the world views her body. She told Variety in March 2024: "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 anymore, because I'm an actor. That these characters are for everybody else, but then me as Sydney is not for me anymore. It's this weird relationship that people have with me that I have no control or say over." Sweeney, 27, is recently single, and has also featured in TV shows including Euphoria and Sharp Objects. Her movies, across a wide range of genres, include rom-com Anyone But You, horror movie Immaculate, and action film Madam Web. A photo of Sydney Sweeney's new bathwater soap for men. A photo of Sydney Sweeney's new bathwater soap for men. Dr Squatch Why Is Sydney Sweeney's Bathwater Being Used in Soap? This collaboration is in response to fan curiosity sparked by a previous advertisement by Dr. Squatch, the men's natural products store. It features Sweeney soaking in a candlelit bathtub, and playful banter from fans about her bathwater, led to the creation of the unconventional product. Dr Squatch wrote in an Instagram announcement: "In collaboration with Sydney Sweeney, we created a limited-edition soap infused with her ACTUAL bathwater. Why? Because y'all wouldn't stop asking. And Sydney said, 'Let's do it.' (what a legend)" The actor is not the first person to commercialize her bathwater. In 2019, an adult content star, Belle Delphine, sold jars of hers for $43 a piece, according to a report by the New York Post. When Will Sydney Sweeney's Soap Be Released Sydney's Bathwater Bliss is set to launch on June 6, 2025, and there will be 100 winners in a competition to get a bar for free. Each bar is crafted with natural ingredients, including exfoliating sand, shea butter, and a touch of Sweeney's bathwater, which Dr. Squatch's website said was "one of nature's finest aphrodisiacs." It has a medium grit level, and the men's care brand said the bar smells like "morning wood," adding this included notes of pine, Douglas fir, and earthy moss. How to Enter The Competition Either follow Dr. Squatch's Instagram account and leave a comment, or you can fill out a form on its website. The product giveaway ends on June 4, and winners will be messaged or emailed from June 6. Dr. Squatch said consumers would also be able to buy the product, although there is a very limited stock, reports saying only 5,000 bars have been made. The men's care brand wrote: "But can I buy one?' Not yet … but we'll have a VERY limited stock when they do drop! Keep an eye out for an announcement." A photo of Sydney Sweeney in the bath holding her new soap product. A photo of Sydney Sweeney in the bath holding her new soap product. Dr Squatch What Happens Next Winners of the competition will find out on June 6, and fans will be able to purchase the product soon Dr. Squatch said, adding it would be providing a further announcement in due course.
