When was the first time you noticed Sydney Sweeney? If you’re like most of us, the moment probably occurred while you were hate-watching Euphoria, or perhaps it was while trying to keep your blood from boiling during The Handmaid’s Tale. No matter when the 26-year-old actress caught your attention, she’s most likely firmly on your radar by now.
Sweeney’s career has come a long way since her first bit parts on network TV shows like Pretty Little Liars and Grey’s Anatomy. She started acting when she was just 14, and over the next dozen years managed to rack up credit after credit on increasingly impressive television shows and movies. After she landed a tiny role in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, her position as a Hollywood leading lady was secure. Here’s a rundown of some of her best work to date.
Euphoria (2019)
HBO’s teenage drama Euphoria moved Sweeney’s career to the next level. She plays Cassie Howard, a teenager with a bad reputation thanks to the sex tapes her horrible ex-boyfriends circulated after their breakup. Like all of the characters on this show, Cassie’s going through a lot: she copes with a lot of shaming due to her sexual history, has an abortion in season 1, and starts a secret affair with her best friend Maddy’s (Alexa Demie) abusive ex, Nate (Jacob Elordi).
Her character continues on a downward spiral in season 2, culminating in a huge public freak-out on stage during her sister Lexi’s (Maude Apatow) play. Sweeney did a magnificent job with this character and displayed tremendous range, earning a nomination for an Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Primetime Emmy Award.
Euphoria is streaming on Max.
The Handmaid’s Tale (2017)
Sweeney played Eden Spencer, a 15-year-old child bride to Nick Blaine (Max Minghella) in the dystopian drama inspired by Margaret Atwood’s books. Eden is introduced to the plot in season 2, episode 5, and she appears for seven episodes before meeting a shocking end in episode 12. The character makes the deadly mistake of falling in love with Isaac (Rohan Mead), a crime in Gilead, and her own father betrays her when the couple tries to flee, so she faces public execution in a scene that left viewers shocked.
The Handmaid’s Tale is streaming on Hulu.
Everything Sucks! (2018)
Before joining the high school gang in Euphoria, Sweeney starred in a similar coming-of-age story in Everything Sucks! This 10-episode Netflix series focuses on a group of outcasts in the 1990s in Boring, Oregon. Sweeney plays Emaline, a junior who falls in love with Kate (Peyton Kennedy), a young woman coming to terms with her newfound sexuality. The series concludes with a tender kiss between Emaline and Kate that many feel helped advance LGBTQ+ representation on television.
Everything Sucks! is streaming on Netflix.
Sharp Objects (2018)
In 2018, Sweeney appeared on the HBO miniseries Sharp Objects, based on the eponymous novel by Gillian Flynn. She played the role of Alice, roommate to Camille Preaker (Amy Adams) in a psychiatric facility. Her role was originally small, but the director added her to more scenes due to the level of intensity she lent the character.
Sharp Objects is streaming on Max.
Clementine (2019)
In this romantic thriller, Sweeney plays Lana, a sexy young woman who meets Karen (Otmara Marrero) and starts a new fling. Karen is nursing a broken heart after breaking up with her last girlfriend, so she breaks into her ex’s lake house, where she meets Lana. Critics said the script of Clementine could have been better, but the chemistry between the two leading ladies was spot on.
Clementine is streaming on Peacock.
The Voyeurs (2021)
This chilly psychological thriller was a surprise hit on Amazon Prime streaming. Sweeney stars alongside Justice Smith as Pippa and Thomas, a couple moving into their first apartment in Montreal. When they discover they can spy on their neighbors, a couple named Julia and Seb (Natasha Liu Bordizzo and Ben Hardy), things go off the rails fast. They become obsessed, slowly intermingling their lives with the other couple, and eventually someone winds up dead. There’s a pretty decent twist that viewers never see coming, not to mention a scary scene involving a LASIK machine that’s sure to cause a new phobia in some people.
The Voyeurs is streaming on Prime.
Night Teeth (2021)
Night Teeth allowed Sweeney to show off her dark, gothic side. She plays a vampire named Eve who’s involved in an uprising between vampires and humans. Chauffer Benny (Jorge Lendeborg Jr.) is thrust into the battle between good and evil while Sweeney pals around with fellow vamp Grace (Megan Fox), feasting on mortals without remorse.
Night Teeth is streaming on Netflix.
Anyone But You (2023)
In a departure from the dark and creepy, Sweeney starred in her first romantic comedy in 2023. Anyone But You is loosely based on Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. The actress plays Bea, a college student who meets Ben (Glen Powell) and falls asleep in his apartment, only to return the next day and overhear him badmouthing her. Months later, the two are thrust together when their sister and brother decide to get married … in Australia. The two must pretend to be a couple to get their overbearing families off their backs, and you know what that means! Fake it ’til you make it, that’s what.
Anyone But You is in theaters now.
Reality (2023)
Sweeney takes center stage in this 2021 movie based on the true story of government whistle-blower Reality Winner. Winner was an NSA translator who was sentenced to more than 5 years in federal prison for leaking a document about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential elections. That document turned out to be true, by the way; the exact same document was later used by the United States Senate to prove that the rumored interference did indeed occur.
Reality is streaming on Hulu and max.
The White Lotus (2021)
Season 1 of The White Lotus truly put Sweeney on the map! She plays Olivia Mossbacher, a snooty college sophomore on vacation with her wealthy parents in Hawaii. She brings along her friend Paula (Brittany O’Grady), and the two continually find fault and look down on everyone around them. In the end, we learn that Olivia and Paula seem to be best friends, but there’s a lot of unresolved conflict between them. This performance earned Sweeney a second Primetime Emmy Award nomination in 2022.
The White Lotus is streaming on Max.
What’s next?
Sweeney’s momentum isn’t slowing down! Madame Web is now in theaters (and we’re excited for her despite everything else about that movie). We look forward to seeing her in the upcoming Barbarella remake and Ron Howard’s newest movie, Eden.
(featured image: Lionel Hahn/WireImage)
