The Euphoria and Anyone But You star has one of the most promising careers within young Hollywood but controversy has stuck to her
Almost exactly three years ago, in July 2022, the actor Sydney Sweeney gave an interview to the Hollywood Reporter that was refreshingly frank about finances.
At the time, Sweeney was 24, fresh off the contentious buzz of Euphoria’s second season, and undeniably on the up in Hollywood as one of gen Z’s very few in-demand actors. And yet, as she told the magazine, she did not have the money to cover even a six-month break from the industry. Unlike some of her Euphoria peers, Sweeney is not a nepo baby; she was raised middle-class in northern Idaho and Spokane, Washington, and began working as a child actor at 13. She acted continuously throughout her teens – on Criminal Minds and Grey’s Anatomy, then small roles on prestige projects like Sharp Objects, The Handmaid’s Tale and Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood – because there was no fallback cushion. “I don’t have someone supporting me, I don’t have anyone I can turn to, to pay my bills or call for help,” she said.
Even after working on a hit HBO show, which did allow her to buy a house in LA, money was tight. “They don’t pay actors like they used to, and with streamers, you no longer get residuals,” Sweeney explained. “The established stars still get paid, but I have to give 5% to my lawyer, 10% to my agents, 3% or something like that to my business manager. I have to pay my publicist every month, and that’s more than my mortgage.” Sweeney spoke with the authority and detail of someone who actually had to review her budget every month – for the stylist, the publicist, the makeup, the travel, the unspoken demands of being a fame-aiming young actor in the Instagram age, and particularly a young beautiful woman. Hence, her many brand deals – Miu Miu, Armani, Laneige. “If I just acted, I wouldn’t be able to afford my life in LA,” she said. “I take deals because I have to.”
