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The Stunning Transformation Of Sydney Sweeney – Nicki Swift

Sydney Sweeney always knew she was going to become an actor. “I don’t want to sound cheesy and say that I think I was born and I’ve always wanted to do it, ’cause it feels like that. I can’t pinpoint a moment where I ever thought anything else,” she told the “20 Questions: On Deadline” podcast in 2022.

Sweeney has had a meteoric rise to fame in Hollywood. She’s been acting since she was a kid, and now in her 20s, she’s become a hot commodity. She’s showcased her brilliant acting abilities in hit series like “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “The White Lotus,” and, of course, in her role as Cassie in the HBO Max series “Euphoria.” But Sweeney’s more than a television star. As of this writing, she is set to play opposite Dakota Johnson and Emma Roberts in Marvel’s “Madame Web” and will appear in the highly anticipated romantic comedy “Anyone But You,” opposite Glen Powell. There is no doubt that Sweeney has become one of the biggest success stories in Hollywood in recent years.

From her humble beginnings in a rural town in Washington to working her way up in the entertainment industry and acting among some fan-favorite A-listers, this is the stunning transformation of Sydney Sweeney.

Sydney Sweeney was raised in a small town

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Sydney Sweeney was born in September 1997 and raised in a small town in Spokane, Washington. Her mother, Lisa Sweeney, worked as a criminal defense lawyer, and her father, Steven Sweeney, is a hospitality professional. Sydney is also a big sister to her brother, Trent Sweeney, who has a few acting credits to his name. For Sydney, becoming an actor wasn’t something her parents probably would have envisioned for their daughter, but she knew from when she was a young girl that it was her calling. 

During an interview with the “BUILD Series” in 2019, Sydney shared that her parents doubted her dreams of becoming an actor. “My parents never believed me. It was like I wanted to be a princess in some fairytale land, and they were like, ‘This is not possible.’ I grew up in a small town, so it was like this crazy idea that would never come true,” she said. However, no dream was too big for Sydney Sweeney. 

At 12, she convinced her parents that acting was her calling

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When Sydney Sweeney was 12, a film production came to her town and was holding auditions for the 2009 zombie indie movie “ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction.” It was the chance of a lifetime for Sweeney, and she presented her parents with a five-year business plan to convince them to allow her to audition for a role. It worked, and Sweeney nabbed her first role. However, success did not come easy for the star. 

Speaking with British GQ in 2022, Sweeney recalled that her parents and brother moved from Washington to Los Angeles to help her further her career. Despite landing a few roles in television shows, the Sweeney family had money struggles and lost their home in Washington. They also could not afford their home in L.A. and had to live in a hotel for nine months. The actor’s parents eventually divorced, and her five-year plan did not work out as she had planned. 

“I always thought that when I was 18, I’d have made enough money to buy my parent’s old house back. And somehow by buying that house back, it would have [brought] my parents back together,” Sweeney shared, adding that even if she could buy it after eventually finding success, it wouldn’t be the same.

Sydney Sweeney began her career starring in minor TV roles

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As previously mentioned, Sydney Sweeney did not find success in acting overnight. Though she knew she wanted to be in the entertainment industry, she had to prove herself just like anyone else. 

After starring in the above-mentioned 2009 zombie flick, Sweeney landed minor roles in some big-named shows. Her first TV role was in a 2009 episode of “Heroes,” and that same year, she would nab a role in an episode of “Criminal Minds.” From there, Sweeney would earn more than two-dozen roles in a variety of TV shows, shorts, and movies over the next decade, including the 2011 Lifetime TV movie “The Bling Ring” and a 2014 turn on “Grey’s Anatomy.” Meanwhile, in 2017, she guested in one episode of “The Middle” and “Pretty Little Liars” each. 

It was 2018, however, that would prove to be a massive year for Sweeney’s career. She would end up working in not one but three major television shows (more on this below). Before she landed those gigs, however, people unfortunately doubted her talents because of her appearance. “A casting director told me once that I will never be on a TV show,” Sweeney later recalled to British GQ, adding of her “Euphoria” gig, “Now, I’m on some of the biggest TV shows in the world.”

Her first major role was in Everything Sucks!

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People really began to notice Sydney Sweeney when she was cast in the 2018 Netflix coming-of-age series “Everything Sucks!” The show centered around a group of teenagers in both the A/V Club and the drama club in the late ’90s as they came together to make a movie while dealing with issues like dating and sexuality. Sweeney, who starred as Emaline, landed her first major television role. However, the series unfortunately ended after one season.

During her interview with the “BUILD Series,” Sweeney revealed that she had actually booked a role in the acclaimed HBO mini-series “Sharp Objects” before “Everything Sucks!” It just so happened that the latter was released first. In the HBO show, Sweeney not only showcased her acting range when she took on a much darker part, she also got to work with a fan-favorite movie star (more on this below).

Thar same year, Sweeney also landed the role of Eden Spencer in Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale,” where she worked side-by-side with actor Elisabeth Moss. Sweeney did a spectacular job with her character and proved that she could take on various types of roles. “I definitely like to change it up,” she shared with the “BUILD Series.” “I like characters that scare me and are completely different than myself, because I like a challenge. And I like being able to learn and experience about these different characters, because I feel like that gives me the ability to connect to other people in the world.”

Euphoria put Sydney Sweeney on the map

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Sydney Sweeney’s acting career skyrocketed in 2019. She starred in the comedy-drama “Big Time Adolescence” opposite Pete Davidson and in the thriller “Clementine,” but what put the actor on the map was nabbing the role of Cassie Howard in the hit HBO series “Euphoria,” which also stars A-lister Zendaya, as well as fellow rising stars like Jacob Elordi and Maude Apatow. The show, which has been renewed for a third season, became the network’s second most-watched show ever in 2022, just trailing behind “Games of Thrones.” 

Speaking with Deadline in 2022, Sweeney reiterated that while she enjoyed taking on roles that were nothing like her, there was a special connection between her and the complexities of her “Euphoria” character. “Cassie is one of the most relatable characters to me because I search for love and acceptance, and I’m scared of being alone. I was a teenage girl, too, so I definitely relate to her, but most of my characters I try to be vastly different from,” she shared.

Sweeney was nominated for an Emmy for best supporting actress in a drama series in 2022. That year, her “Euphoria” co-star, Zendaya, won the award for lead actress.

She’s already worked with the likes of Brad Pitt and Amy Adams

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Sydney Sweeney’s diverse acting portfolio also includes working in a Quentin Tarantino film — no big deal. Sweeney had a minor role in 2019’s “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood,” which starred acting elites Leonardo DiCaprio, Margot Robbie, and Brad Pitt. Although she was just in a few scenes, any actor would be envious to star in a Tarantino project. “[It was] incredible,” Sweeney shared with British GQ when asked how working with the director felt. “I mean, that’s like a bucket list, dream job for pretty much every actor.”

Still relatively new in the industry at that point, Sweeney told Coveteur that working alongside someone as big as Pitt did not make her feel like any less of an actor. “I learned kindness,” she said. “Brad [Pitt] is so kind and humble to every single person. It doesn’t matter who they are, and it just spoke so much to me. … You guys are working together, and no one is above anyone. And I loved that he still had that mentality.” Sweeney added, “I told myself that, for the rest of my life, I’m going to make sure I’m that.”

Sweeney previously worked with Golden Globe winner Amy Adams in “Sharp Objects,” which proved to be just as valuable a learning experience. “Being able to sit there and learn from her, watching her act, and listening to her speak about just her life in general was amazing,” she shared on the “BUILD Series.” “Better than any acting class you could ever ask for.”

Sydney Sweeney has a method for developing her characters

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Only in her late 20s, as of this writing, Sydney Sweeney’s ability to take on several different roles and nail them makes her stand out among her peers. “I’ve been really lucky that writers have been writing such intense, powerful, and unique female characters now,” Sydney told Schön! magazine in 2018.

Her acting portfolio only grew after working in “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood.” In 2020, Sydney starred in the supernatural horror film “Nocturne,” and the following year, she appeared in “Downfalls High,” a musical film based on Machine Gun Kelly’s album “Tickets to My Downfall.” That same year, the actor starred in Amazon Prime’s “The Voyeurs” and Netflix’s vampire thriller “Night Teeth,” while also showcasing a totally different side of herself in “The White Lotus.” She appeared in six episodes in the latter and impressively nabbed a second Emmy Award nomination for her performance in 2022. 

So, how does Sweeney take on all these complex characters so well? She writes about them. In fact, before she portrays a character, the actor writes back stories about each of them from when they are born until the first page of her script. “I create these books for my characters,” she told Coveteur, noting that she’s done so for her role as Eden in “The Handmaid’s Tale,” Cassie in “Euphoria,” and Olivia in “The White Lotus.” “You know everything about yourself; your memories, your favorite places to go eat, your favorite item of clothing. It’s all in this book.”

This actor is also really athletic

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Sydney Sweeney is a woman of many talents. Besides showcasing her acting abilities in various projects, she’s pretty competitive and grew up loving sports. “I have a lot of different hobbies,” the well-rounded actor told Allure in January 2023. “I love sports. I like to play soccer. I love decorating. I love building things.” She added, “I grew up being on a snow ski team when I was little, and we would have to be up the mountain by 5 a.m. During the holiday break, I’d be up on the mountain every other day and I loved it.”

Sweeney clearly enjoys staying active, and she grew up playing every sport under the sun, telling British GQ that she’s also played golf, softball, wakeboarding (which you can watch her master on Instagram), ballet, and even riding dirt bikes. However, MMA (mixed martial arts) really became a strong passion for Sweeney at the age of 13. “I loved the element of surprise [in] that no one would think I’d be able to do something like that. I felt very capable and powerful,” she shared with the outlet. On “The Kelly Clarkson Show” in 2021, Sweeney revealed that she even beat a few male MMA fighters in competitions. However, she unfortunately had to put her fighting days behind her in case of injury while she pursued acting roles.

When she’s not acting, Sydney Sweeney’s restoring cars

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Sydney Sweeney’s resume should read talented actor, MMA fighter, and mechanic. When she’s not acting or staying active, Sweeney is busy restoring classic cars like a 1969 Ford Bronco she began fixing up during the pandemic. In June 2021, Sweeney shared photos of herself in a body shop where she was restoring the red truck on Instagram. It turns out her love for cars goes way back to when she was a child. “Cars are something that I’ve always been interested in and I just never had the means to take action on that interest,” she told PureWow that same year. “I grew up with mechanics in my family and my mom loved cars. But I never had the chance to actually do anything on my own with them. So, I had a year where I had some downtime and kind of went full force.”

Sweeney’s passion inspired the star to create a TikTok page called @syds_garage, on which she showed the progress of fixing her Ford Bronco. Some of her highlights included changing the vehicle’s transmission, removing the car’s front and rear axle, and customizing the grille. Once it was all completed, the “Euphoria” star even got to showcase the vehicle at the eBay motor parts show. Having fixed up a classic Bronco, Sweeney partnered with Ford, showing her TikTok viewers how to check and fill your tires and jump-start a car in March 2023.

Is there anything Sydney Sweeney can’t do? 

Sydney Sweeney’s engaged, but it’s really lowkey

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Sydney Sweeney has one rule regarding her love life — she won’t date someone in Hollywood. “I don’t date people in the spotlight. I don’t date actors or musicians or anyone in entertainment because I can just be normal Syd that way and it’s easiest. I have a great support system,” Sweeney told Cosmopolitan in 2022. What she does look for in a partner is a best friend, noting, “I need to be able to be with someone who I can literally hang out with 24/7 and never get sick of and we laugh every single day.”

Luckily for Sweeney, she has found that someone. The actor has been with her partner, Jonathan Davino, since 2018. Davino is a restauranteur based out of Chicago who is 13 years Sweeney’s senior, and his family owns the device technology and packaging company 14th Round and Final Bell. While the couple were reportedly engaged by 2022, they’re rarely spotted out together (though they attended a Kate Spade dinner party in 2018, and, in 2020, were photographed vacationing in Hawaii). In May 2023, the couple attended the Cannes Film Festival together, and that September, they were pictured holding hands during the Venice Film Festival.

Sweeney has even hinted about wanting to start a family. “I’ve always wanted to be a young mom,” she told The Hollywood Reporter in 2022. Are babies in Sydney Sweeney’s near future? 

But she sparked major romance rumors with co-star Glen Powell

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In January 2023, it was announced that Sydney Sweeney and “Top Gun: Maverick” actor Glen Powell would be co-starring in the upcoming rom-com “Anyone But You.” However, the movie soon made headlines for all the wrong reasons, with tabloids alleging that things turned romantic for Sweeney and Powell during filming.

Production for the flick occurred in Australia, and rumors swirled that two actors took their on-screen chemistry off-camera. Photos showed Sydney in a bikini sitting beside a shirtless Powell that April, reportedly looking at their movie scripts on a beach. Around this time, Sweeney also posted a carousel of pictures with Powell on Instagram while the pair were Down Under. As reported by People, more speculation of a blossoming romance surfaced when Sweeney referred to her co-star with the nickname “Top Gun” when they attended CinemaCon 2023 that same month. Powell commented back, “I love when she calls me that.” Furthermore, Powell and his girlfriend of three years, Gigi Paris, split in late April. 

For her part, Sweeney simply seemed to enjoy all the gossip surrounding her relationship with her co-star, rather than take it too seriously. “It’s a rom-com. That’s what people want!” she told Variety that August. “Glen and I don’t really care. We have so much fun together, and we respect each other so much; he’s such a hard worker, and I’m a hard worker.” The headline-making movie is scheduled to be released in December 2023.

Sydney Sweeney’s a music video star

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Sydney Sweeney not only got to work alongside acting greats like Brad Pitt and Amy Adams, but she also got to rock out with The Rolling Stones (sort of). How many celebrities can say that they’ve done both? In September 2023, The Rolling Stones released their single “Angry” off their studio album “Hackney Diamonds.” When Sweeney starred in the legendary rock band’s music video, she certainly nailed her performance.

In the video, billboards show The Rolling Stones performing throughout the years, including footage of the band from the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s. What’s so cool about it is that fans get a special trip down memory lane, and music video director Françios Rousselet made it appear as if Mick Jagger is singing his new song on each billboard. As for Sweeney, she’s seen rocking out to song while sitting on top of a red Mercedes as it drives down The Sunset Strip.

This wasn’t the first time Sweeney starred in a music video, however. She acted alongside Halsey, who just so happens to be one of her best friends, in her 2019 music video for “Graveyard.”

She’s working behind the camera, too

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Sydney Sweeney founded her own production company, Fifty-Fifty Films, in 2020, and has since begun working on several projects, including an upcoming HBO Max series, in which she and singer-slash-bestie Halsey will star, called “The Players Club.” It’s based on Jessica Goodman’s book “They Wish They Were Us.” Sweeney would also serve as an executive producer for her 2023 romantic comedy “Anyone But You,” as well as produce and star in the 2024 horror flick “Immaculate.”

In a 2022 interview with Cosmopolitan, Sweeney shared that she has a lot in the works regarding her work behind the camera. “I sold a movie. I may or may not have adapted a book as a screenplay. I have about seven different books that I have the rights to,” the actor-producer explained. “It’s terrifying because this is the kind of industry where everyone gets to watch you fail. It’s a lot of pressure. But everyone is going to have good and bad; no one has a perfect slate of box-office hits.”

Sydney Sweeney has major projects in the works for 2024

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While this multi-talent is killing it in the producing game, fans will also be seeing a lot more of Sydney Sweeney on camera. In addition to “Anyone But You,” 2023 has seen her star as American intelligence leaker Reality Winner in the HBO Max film “Reality” and appear in the crime thriller “Americana.” By 2024, the “Immaculate” actor-producer will have joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe in “Madame Web,” as well as star opposite Julianne Moore and Domhnall Gleeson in the film “Echo Valley.” And she’ll continue to play double duty as an actor and producer in various other projects like “The Caretaker” — based on the short story by Marcus Kliewer — the remake of the 1968 science fiction film “Barbarella,” as well as “The Registration,” based on Madison Lawson’s thriller. And, of course, Sweeney is set to reprise her popular role as Cassie in “Euphoria” for its third season.

It’s worth pointing out that Sweeney only celebrated her 26th birthday — via a birthday party with an ’80s prom theme, at that — in September 2023. But this star clearly loves what she does, and it sounds like she doesn’t plan on slowing down anytime soon. “I thrive in chaos,” Sweeney shared with Variety about taking on so many gigs on and off camera. “I love having, like, five projects that I’m juggling, and I’m also reading 10 scripts and three books at the same time. I love it.”