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Sydney Sweeney (born September 12, 1997)[1] is an American actress. She first gained attention in 2018 for appearing in the television series Everything Sucks! and The Handmaid's Tale, and in the limited series Sharp Objects. In the following year, she was featured in the Quentin Tarantino-directed film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
Sydney Sweeney | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Sweeney at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival | |
| Born | September 12, 1997 Spokane, Washington, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 2009–present |
| Partner(s) | Jonathan Davino (2018–present; engaged) |
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.
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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." 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.[8]
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]
In middle school, Sweeney was on the robotics team and participated in the mathematics club.[13] She was valedictorian of her graduating class at Brighton Hall School in Burbank, California.[14] In 2016, Sweeney briefly worked at Universal Studios Hollywood, but left after she had been hired for an acting job. She also briefly attended the University of California, Los Angeles.[15]
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Early work (2016–2019)
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]
Sweeney had a role in the film Under the Silver Lake in 2018.[22] She had a recurring role during the second season of the dystopian drama series The Handmaid's Tale as Eden Spencer, a pious and obedient girl from the totalitarian and theocratic Republic of Gilead.[17] She also starred as the heroine in the horror film Along Came the Devil.[23] The next year, Sweeney appeared in the drama film Clementine, the coming-of-age film Big Time Adolescence, and Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.[24][25][26]
Breakthrough (2019–present)
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]
Sweeney is the founder of production company Fifty-Fifty Films, launched in 2020.[32] The same year, she starred in the TV film Nocturne as well as Webtoon’s live-action advertisement for the online comic Lore Olympus, appearing as Persephone.[33][34][35] In 2021, Sweeney appeared in the first season of Mike White's anthology black comedy series The White Lotus[36][37] as a sardonic college sophomore.[38] For her portrayal of the character, she was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie in 2022. Her accomplishments earned her a place on the Time 100 Next list for 2022.[39]
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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 film Madame 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 will next star alongside Julianne Moore in Echo Valley.[64] She will also produce and star in an as-yet untitled biopic of boxer Christy Martin.[65]
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Sweeney is engaged to businessman Jonathan Davino as of 2023.[66][67][68] They produce films together (including Anyone but You), and Sweeney considers Davino to be her "producing partner."[68]
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.[69]
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.[70]
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Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction | Lisa | |
| 2010 | The Opium Eater | Sarah Detzer | |
| Takeo | Samantha Wright | Short | |
| Night Blind | Lost Girl | Short | |
| The Ward | Young Alice | ||
| 2013 | Spiders 3D | Emily Cole | |
| 2014 | Angels in Stardust | Annie | |
| 2015 | Held | Lily Woods | Short |
| Love Made Visible | Leah | Short | |
| The Martial Arts Kid | Julia | ||
| The Unborn | Little Janey Hutchins | Short | |
| Stolen From Suburbia | Emma | ||
| 2016 | Cassidy Way | Kelsey Connors | |
| The Horde | Hailey Summers | ||
| 2017 | Vikes | Ida | |
| Dead Ant | Sam | ||
| It Happened Again Last Night | Young Paige | Short | |
| 2018 | Relentless | Ally | |
| The Wrong Daughter | Samantha | ||
| Under the Silver Lake | Shooting Star | ||
| Along Came the Devil | Ashley | ||
| 2019 | Big Time Adolescence | Holly | |
| Clementine | Lana | ||
| Once Upon a Time in Hollywood | Dianne "Snake" Lake | ||
| 2020 | Nocturne | Juliet Lowe | |
| 2021 | The Voyeurs | Pippa | |
| Night Teeth | Eva | ||
| 2023 | Reality | Reality Winner | |
| Americana | Penny Jo Poplin | ||
| Anyone but You | Bea Messina | Also executive producer | |
| 2024 | Madame Web | Julia Cornwall | |
| Immaculate | Cecilia | Also producer[59] | |
| Eden | Margret Wittmer | [71] | |
| TBA | Echo Valley † | Claire Garrett | Post-production[64][72] |
| Untitled Christy Martin film † | Christy Martin | Also producer | |
| † | Denotes films that have not yet been released |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Heroes | Little Girl | Episode: "Chapter Four 'Hysterical Blindness'" |
| Criminal Minds | Dani Forester | Episode: "Outfoxed" | |
| 2010 | Chase | Kayla Edwards | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 90210 | Girl | Episode: "How Much Is That Liam in the Window" | |
| 2011 | Kickin' It | Kelsey Vargas | Episode: "Swords and Magic" |
| The Bling Ring | Izzy Fishman | TV movie | |
| 2014 | Grey's Anatomy | Erin Weaver | Episode: "Don't Let's Start" |
| 2017 | Monster School Animation | Madeline Rayon (voice) | Episode: "Welcome to Monster School " |
| The Middle | Female Student #1 | Episode: "The Final Final" | |
| Pretty Little Liars | Willa | Episode: "Till Death Do Us Part" | |
| 2018 | Everything Sucks! | Emaline Addario | Main; 10 episodes |
| The Handmaid's Tale | Eden Spencer | Recurring; 7 episodes | |
| Sharp Objects | Alice | Miniseries; Recurring; 7 episodes | |
| Manic | Missy 'Paper Girl' | TV Short | |
| The Wrong Daughter | Samantha | TV movie | |
| 2019–present | Euphoria | Cassie Howard | Main cast |
| 2021 | The White Lotus | Olivia Mossbacher | Main cast (season 1) |
| 2021–2022 | Robot Chicken | Barbie, Additional Characters (voices) | 4 episodes |
| 2024 | Saturday Night Live | Herself (host) | Episode: "Sydney Sweeney/Kacey Musgraves" |
Podcasts
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Strawberry Spring[73] | Anne Bray | 8 episodes |
Web
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | In the Vault | Haley Caren | 7 episodes |
| 2020 | Day by Day | Winnie Chapman (voice) | Episode: "Winnie, Betty and... " |
| 2021 | Downfalls High | Scarlett |
Music video
| Year | Title | Artist |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | "Graveyard" | Halsey |
| 2023 | "Angry" | The Rolling Stones |
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| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Young Artist Awards | Best Performance in a Short Film – Young Actress[74] | Takeo | Nominated |
| Best Performance in a TV Series – Guest Starring Young Actress 11–15[74] | Chase | Nominated | ||
| 2019 | Young Artist Awards | Best Ensemble Performance in a Streaming Series or Film[75] | Everything Sucks! | Nominated |
| Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series[76] | The Handmaid's Tale | Nominated | |
| Sidewalk Film Festival | Special Shout Jury Mention for Acting[77] | Clementine | Won | |
2022 |
Dorian Television Awards | Best Supporting TV Performance[78] | Euphoria | Nominated |
| MTV Movie & TV Awards | Best Performance in a Show[79] | Nominated | ||
| Best Fight[79] | Won | |||
| People's Choice Awards | Drama TV Star[80] | Nominated | ||
| Hollywood Television Critics Association | Best Supporting Actress in a Broadcast Network or Cable Series, Drama[81] | Nominated | ||
| Best Supporting Actress in a Broadcast Network or Cable Limited or Anthology Series[81] | The White Lotus | Nominated | ||
| Online Film and Television Association | Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture or Limited Series[82] | Nominated | ||
| Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series[82] | Euphoria | Nominated | ||
| Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series[83] | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie[83] | The White Lotus | Nominated | ||
| 2023 | Dublin Film Critics' Circle Awards | Best Actress[84] | Reality | Nominated |
| 2024 | Critics Choice Awards | Best Actress in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television[85] | Nominated | |
| People's Choice Awards | Comedy Movie Star[86] | Anyone but You | Nominated | |
| AACTA Awards | Audience Choice Best Actress[87] | — | Nominated |
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