Sydney Sweeney – Plan A Only

When I enter the shoot she looks like a young Edie Sedgewick, her gamine features perfectly poised as the stylist arranges props around her. She has the kind of lithe elegance that calls to mind ballerinas and that trademark of a skilled actress, the ability to say a thousand things with her expression.

This is something Sweeney is a master of, whether she’s playing the ebullient and vulnerable Cass in Euphoria or the cosseted Eden in The Handmaid’s Tale, she brings a truth and an authenticity to each of her roles. A Virgo, she has a natural instinct for planning, this after all is the girl who, legend has it, presented her parents with a business plan to convince them to let her act. In her acting this translates to meticulous prep, she creates a journal for each role, immersing herself in the character’s world and imagining their reality as she becomes a character by “putting myself in her shoes from different memories and life experiences that she’s had that you won’t have seen on screen – that’s what makes a person.”

Given that her own upbringing was fairly traditional, I ask what her thoughts are around Euphoria, especially the commentary from concerned parents everywhere. We discuss the comparison to Kids in the 90s. Her take is “I think it’s reality for a lot of teens, whether all of these characters and scenarios are happening at once in one school, probably not, but every character and storyline, that is happening to someone out there and a lot of parents are like, this is not real, this is too much and all of it at once, yes it’s a lot but all these people are out there but we just had it all show up in one place.” Her work on Euphoria brings for her both great joys, and chalLenges too. She loves the collaborative nature of the show, citing the way that the show’s creator works with them to ensure things feel authentic. “It’s amazing being able to be honest and it allows you the freedom to say I don’t know if my character would do that, which is an amazing thing.” The challenges of playing Cassie come more from the outside world, her mum was inItially nervous to watch because she comes from a small town and “a lot of people there can be close-minded and not understand that I’m playing a character. Sometimes family members don’t understand I’m playing someone else and that story could maybe help someone in their life.” She says that once her mom watched the show she understood why she loved it and that her family are coming around too. “My family had a hard time with Everything Sucks, and me kissing a girl, so it’s been a lot of me introducing my family to the world and waking them up, which I’m glad I did.”