Sydney Sweeney is experiencing a great moment in her career. The 26 year old actress, who’s been featured in some of the most notorious Hollywood projects over the past five years, just starred in one of last year’s biggest films. She was also the host of a “Saturday Night Live” episode and starred and produced in the film “Immaculate,” which is currently in theaters.
In a new interview, Sweeney discussed the challenges of Hollywood and the passion she feels for building her own projects from the ground up. She also discussed the strange fixation that audiences have with her body.
Sweeney was interviewed by Variety, where she was asked about her reaction regarding people’s comments on her body. These veer from a more extreme version of the everyday sexualization that women face to her looks being politicized by the right and left. “I see it, and I just can’t allow myself to have a reaction. I don’t know how to explain it — I’m still trying to figure it out myself,” said Sweeney. “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’s thoughts on Hollywood and how it treats men and women differently
Sweeney also discussed the challenges of making films in Hollywood and how actors are treated differently based on gender, explaining that she constantly has to be producing new work in order to remain on the map.
“As a male, it’s much easier to do one movie that does really well, and then you can get offered any film that you want. And me, I’m still getting “Can she act?” accusations. Go watch “Reality,” “White Lotus,” “Euphoria,” “Sharp Objects,” “Handmaid’s Tale” — but, OK, I’ll keep trying to prove myself, and hope that one day I can get cast with an amazing director and have a film that people recognize.”