The 24-year-oldSydney Sweeneyhas taken Hollywood by storm, especially in television series over the past few years. Sydney Sweeney’s astounding body of work, considering the brevity of her career, includesEuphoria,The White Lotus,The Handmaid’s Tale, andSharp Objects. There is no denying that the actress has been able to impress time and time again with roles that are extremely difficult to portray. Going against what people expected of her, Sweeney has surprised various people with not only the depth needed to play the characters she chooses but also her other creative and business endeavors.
The fight for more than just shallow female characters has been happening for decades in Hollywood. There have been a lot of women in the business, but especially actresses, advocating for different types of roles and highlighting the filmmakers that tried to make these changes happen. Then, there was the Me Too movement, where it seemed more possible for women who work in the industry to finally be able to candidly talk about their experiences with sexual assault and harassment. These two occurrences combined, creating a more open and real image of what is like working in the big and small screen.
Sweeney is a part of a new generation in acting that has been extremely vocal about what they think and want, as well as reflecting their points of view through the types of stories they choose to tell. Here is how this particular actress has been challenging what was expected of her in different aspects of her life.
Female Stereotypes in Movies and Television
Unfortunately, since the beginning of cinema history, there have been stereotypes that women characters fall into. This has happened not only with women but also people of color (once they were allowed to be a part of movies) and other minorities.The female fatale, the beautiful yet stupid girl, the damsel in distress… These roles have haunted actresses for quite a long time. There has been a shift in Hollywood, where women are more vocal about their experiences inside the industry and the types of roles they are offered. With a new generation coming into the scene, the young girls are receiving a lot of the outcome of this pursuit that has been going on for a while: complex and thought-provoking roles.
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Sydney Sweeney has been one of theactresses on the younger sidewho has been vocal about the type of role people expected her to play. The actress toldYahoo, “In the first five minutes of each meeting, I can see everyone is expecting me to be some dumb blonde girl who doesn’t know what she’s doing.” She furthers the conversation about what people expect of actresses that look like her and why they are completely wrong.
Sydney Sweeney’s Roles
Sweeney has played extremely different characters in the few years of her career, but there is always one element the actress brings every time she is on-screen: immense talent.Sweeney chooses characters and performancesthat are extremely vulnerable while trying to appear tough and unbreakable – until they are on the very edge of breaking. There is a certain lack of likability to some of her characters that could make other actors walk away from them. They are often the opposite of easy-going people, but it is how Sweeney takes these roles and shows the viewer the emotional core that makes them so appealing, even if they wouldn’t be friends with them in real life.
Related:Here’s How Euphoria Makes Mental Health Issues Relatable
Two of the actress' most cherished roles (so far) have been asCassie inEuphoriaand Olivia Mossbacher inThe White Lotus. Her portrayal of Cassie, a troubled teenager who has multiple problems and is dealing with mental health issues and toxic relationships, is one of the main forces in season two ofEuphoria, and it led to an Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Series Emmy nomination alongside her co-star Zendaya, who won the Outstanding Lead Actress award.
The heavy dose of humor inThe White Lotuswas a nice change from theEuphoriaworld, and the actress – who also received an Emmy nomination for this role – stated how much fun she had watching some of the other actors' work. Even in her not-so-successful movies, such as the mixed reviewedThe Voyeurs, her acting skills were not only not questioned buthighlighted as one of the best partsof the movie.
Sydney Sweeney’s Fifty-Fifty Films
Sweeney has not been focusing only on portraying interesting and real characters: she is also open when talking about her own problems in real life. She was very public about herstruggles with panic attacksand anxiety. The actress even stated how, when she was at the peak of her mental health issues, she had a constant battle with her brain — “I still can’t get my mind to shut up, and I don’t sleep.”
However, all of this didn’t stop her: Sweeney opened her own production company, Fifty-Fifty Films. Her focus is toproduce women-led storiesand is currently finishing their debut seriesThe Player’s Table. Sweeney takes one of the main roles of the series alongside the singer and songwriter Halsey, as they play two best friends that have to solve a murder of a classmate. The show is based on the novel by Jessica Goodman calledThey Wish They Were Us.
It is nice to see how a very young Hollywood star is breaking stereotypes and going after what she wants. By founding a production company with this in mind, she is not only creating the stories she wants to be a part of, but also roles for future actresses so that they can have their break in the industry. The actress has stated that she doesn’t see herself doing the same thing for the rest of her life, which can indicate that other roles in the film industry, such as directing, might also be something she will go after. We can’t wait.
