Sydney Sweeney says comments about taking a break from acting were “taken out of context”
Sydney Sweeney attempts to clarify her statements about becoming a "young mother"
Aux News Sydney Sweeney
In July, Sydney Sweeney made headlines for saying she couldn’t afford to press pause on her career: “If I wanted to take a six-month break, I don’t have income to cover that. 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 told The Hollywood Reporter. Further, she expressed a desire to be a “young mom,” but admitted concerns “about how this industry puts stigmas on young women who have children” and “that, if I don’t work, there is no money and no support for kids I would have.”
Now, in a new interview for Elle, Sweeney takes issue with the narrative that emerged from those THR quotes. “I was asked if I wanted to have a family and I said yes. And then I was asked why I didn’t have one yet, and I was like, I don’t have time to take even, like, a six-month break. Like, I don’t have time to be able to start this family. I’m working so much and I’m focusing on that right now,” she says. “And so it was kind of skewed with the public and taken out of context, which was insane to watch and kind of disappointing, too, because I think that being a mother, and a working mother, is really important. I really want to achieve that one day. So I was disappointed that people took my words and changed them [to serve] their own agenda.”
It’s unclear in what way Sweeney felt her quotes had been “skewed.” Contextually, it’s possible she felt her comments pitted her against working moms. In Elle, she also seems to frame the issue more around focusing on her professional life (completely reasonable for a 25-year-old actor) than financial issues. However, she was quite specific about her financial concerns for THR (payments to lawyers, managers, and agents are “more than [her] mortgage,” she revealed), so it’s hard to say what part of the interview was misinterpreted.
In any case, The White Lotus star has good reason to be sensitive about her media coverage. Reflecting on the similarities between her own experiences and that of her Euphoria character, she says, “I was highly sexualized in high school because I had boobs. It’s kind of funny: What was being said about Cassie in Euphoria, the public then decided to do to me in real life. Which I thought was so crazy, because we were trying to show a character who was so hypersexualized, and what could have been the cause and effects for her. And they just continue to do it.”
If Sweeney has felt a lack of safety and comfort in the public eye (“I wish someone would’ve told me how much, as Sydney, I would have to speak, because I feel safer in my characters”), she at least feels a sense of security on set. “We are in such a great time right now in the industry where we have intimacy coordinators, and I’ve always felt comfortable with mine,” she says. “They’re very collaborative and very supportive. I think it’s important for every set to have one.”
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On the other hand, how many 25 year olds can afford a house?
You know that you’ve become famous when every little remark you make is discussed to death across gossip sites.
*Olivia Wilde angrily tweets DWD drama*
Acting is a strange job, in that it’s hard to apply some of the normal standards for an appropriate workplace to the profession. For example, it’s critically important that we accommodate women having children, but that can be harder to achieve in Hollywood. It’s reasonable that studios do not want an actress who is visibly pregnant in roles where that is not part of the role, in a way that isn’t true when someone is a pregnant accountant. There are also not easy ways to handle maternity leave — unlike in a normal workplace, you can’t just sub in another actress for a few months. Shows have certainly made efforts to address pregnant actresses in established show (like Fraser’s, um, questionable storyline where Daphne got fat) but Sweeney’s probably right that being a young mother would result in her losing out on roles. It’s tough to see what can be done about that.Similarly, it can be hard to evaluate claims of being sexualized. Women cast in roles with a sexual component deserve to be treated respectfully, and the fact that a role may involve sex is not an invitation for leering, sexual comments, etc. But the reality is that Sweeney has received opportunities because she looks a certain way, and it’s not reasonable to expect that fans and viewers won’t respond to Sweeney in the show by finding her sexually desirable — she was cast for being sexually desirable. Again, analogizing this to a normal workplace is difficult. We can be confident that an accountant who is told she needs a sexier outfit has been a victim of misconduct, but that’s less true if a director says it to an actress.
It’s interesting, then, that Julie Bowen was pregnant during the pilot of Modern Family- watch it with that knowledge and you can’t help but notice how hard they try to keep her abdomen hidden. I guess that’s kind of a happy story that they accommodated her, also considering that she wasn’t particularly well known to the general public at the time and presumably would have lest clout than a more established star.
Sitcoms are a different animal. That and the documentary style of shooting make it way easier.
Unknown? American Werewolf in Paris! /s
Eh, Julie Bowen was pretty well established at that point (aside from being pretty well known for Happy Gilmore, she had been on TV for years, having starred in Ed and Boston Legal).Sweeney has really only had her “breakout” in the last couple years, (and I even then most audiences don’t know who she is because Euphoria and White Lotus, despite being talked a lot on TV blogs, don’t have nearly the same viewership that other prestige shows that dominate the culture conversation) so she may not have the same pull as someone more established behind the scenes.
In any case, she needs to do what’s best for her mental health, but also shouldn’t expect to pick up where she left off if she does take any kind of break.
Unknown? Ed!!
Well I really think it depends on the show to be honest. If it can be shot in a way to obscure part of their body you can pull it off. But if it a lot of open/wide/full body shots, not so much. I mean I get her not enjoying being sexualized, insofar as I can as a guy, I imagine it’s tough when all people care about are how you look. That said her 2 breakout roles were sexualized characters, does that mean we treat her like a piece of meat, but at the same time taking roles like that almost invite that sort of attention. That said I think she’s a quite good actress, and while she is IMO stunningly beautiful, damn near flawless, the fact that she restored a classic truck herself is, well, WAY sexier lol. That said I shall volunteer as tribute if she want’s to be a mom LOL.
Helena Bonham Carter was also pregnant during the filming of Half Blood Prince- it’s pretty easy to spot in retrospect. Ironically, Helen McCrory turned down the role of Bellatrix because she was pregnant when they would have filmed Order of the Phoenix.And of course there’s the OG: Lucille Ball, who wrote her own pregnancy into I Love Lucy back when you couldn’t even say the word on television- it’s why the episode is titled “Lucy is Eciente.”
Oh fuck off, Sydney. You made some tone-deaf remarks about not being rich enough to take six months off because TV doesn’t pay like it used to… just fucking own it and learn something about not shitting on your audience, who aren’t as worried about what agents cost as they are about housing and food. Don’t try to retcon the whole thing to make yourself sympathetic – Olivia Wilde has the market cornered there, kiddo.
She was asked a question. She answered it. I’m struggling to put a roof over my head as much as the next guy, but no one asks me questions and publishes my tone-deaf replies. I have to go to Twitter for that.
We keep taking everything out of context with this girl: Her interview quotes, the stuff about her mortgage, those photos with her family where they’re wearing MAGA hats…
You don’t understand, officer! He shot first! This is all completely taken out of context!
So the headline writers think we have to be told what roles Robbie Coltrane is known for, but assume we know who Sydney Sweeney is? (And the first three paragraphs don’t offer any clues beyond “actress”?)
I love nitpicking the writers here as much as anyone, but in this instance, yes. Sydney Sweeney is quite a popular actress currently.
Well Robbie Coltrane wasn’t on Euphoria, was he?