‘My dad and my grandpa turned it off and walked out’
Sydney Sweeney has revealed that her dad and grandfather walked out of the room after watching one of her films.
The 27-year-old first rose to fame in 2018 in the TV series ‘Everything Sucks!’ and ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ but has enjoyed a fabulous career since appearing in projects such as ‘Anyone but You’ and ‘The White Lotus’.
However, Hollywood can come with a heavy price, especially when it comes to the portrayal of sexually explicit roles and your friends and family wanting to watch and support your career – something Sweeney knows all too well.
One of Sweeney’s break-out roles came in HBO’s Euphoria where she played Cassie Howard.
The show was set in a fictional high school in California, the gritty teen series tackles numerous heavy topics such as drug abuse, revenge porn and mental illness.
Sweeney’s character was involved in storylines revolving abortion, infidelity and low self-esteem due to hyper-sexualisation.
Speaking to NBC’s Sunday Today last year, Sweeney said: “My mum visited me on set quite a few times, so she knew the story. I didn’t prepare my dad at all.”
Her dad planned a viewing party without telling Sweeney and invited her grandparents who were shocked by what they saw.
She said: “My dad and my grandpa turned it off and walked out. My grandma… she’s a fan. She’s a big supporter. I bring her all over the world to my different sets and I make her an extra.”
Sweeney has previously said some people struggle to separate her from the characters she plays.
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In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter in 2022, Sweeney said: “People forget that I’m playing a character, they think ‘oh, she gets naked onscreen, she’s a sex symbol’.
“I can’t get past that. I have no problems with those scenes, and I won’t stop doing them, but I wish there was an easier way to have an open conversation about what we’re assuming about actors in the industry.”
A third series of Euphoria was commissioned back in February 2022 but production on the show faced numerous setbacks due to the Writers Guild of America strike (which has now been resolved) and the busy schedules of cast members such as Jacob Elordi and Zendaya.
HBO has since confirmed that they are hoping production will begin in early 2025, with a release date yet to be confirmed.
