Sydney Sweeney Talks The Housemaid, Christy, and Bonding With Amanda Seyfried

Since 2019, when Sydney Sweeney had her breakout as Cassie Howard in the edgy HBO show Euphoria, the actor has been ubiquitous. From playing an entitled college kid in the first season of The White Lotus to starring opposite Glen Powell in the rom-com Anyone but You, the blonde bombshell quickly proved her range. (She’s managed to dominate the zeitgeist for six years—and counting—partly thanks to her occasionally controversial off-screen activities.) In the past year, audiences got to see Sweeney in three very different roles—first, as a drug addict who returns home amid a crisis, in Echo Valley. For the biopic Christy, Sweeney took on Christy Martin, a coal miner's daughter who became the best female boxer in America in the 1990s, before her personal life turned violent. (Sweeney did her own stunts.) Her third role, as Millie Calloway, was in a campier thriller/horror story: The Housemaid, an adaptation of Freida McFadden’s best-selling novel. In the movie, Calloway, a troubled young lady, finds a fresh start as a live-in maid for a wealthy woman (Amanda Seyfried) and her family, who prove to be sinister and perverse. This spring, Sweeney is finally returning as Cassie in the long-awaited third season of Euphoria and will star as Kim Novak in Colman Domingo’s directorial debut, Scandalous.

You were involved with getting The Housemaid produced.

I was a huge fan of the book. The moment I opened the first page, I did not put it down until I finished. I knew there was a script circulating, and I went after it. I came onboard and worked with Lionsgate to package the film. I love being able to be part of building the entire world, not just my actor’s world. It’s like a giant puzzle that I get to put together. And I’m obsessed with Amanda [Seyfried]. She’s my spirit animal. She’s made me feel more comfortable just being myself.

Seyfried is very good at crocheting. Did she teach you?

I could not learn. But I do have a little, tiny [crochet] bag from her that is a very prized possession that I will cherish forever.

This year, you also played the boxer Christy Martin. How did you shake the character?

I've always trained myself to separate as much as I can from my characters and not to put my own thoughts or memories into a scene. It allows me to know that a character is the one experiencing those moments, feelings, and scenarios—I'm not. When they call “Cut,” I’m able to just jump out of it and be back to Syd.

With Christy, you also physically transformed, gaining 30 pounds for the role.

I did physically change for it, so I was still coming home as Christy, in a sense. But the emotions, fights, and traumas that she went through, I tried not to bring those home with me.

As a child, you dreamed of being an actor. How different is it than you thought it would be?

It’s so different. When I was little, it was more wanting to play different characters, and that part has come true. But I had no idea about everything else that came along with it.

Do you remember your dreams?

Recently, no. I don’t even know if I’m dreaming anymore. I used to be a really vivid dreamer. I used to be able to control my dreams; I could lie there and orchestrate all the dreams that I wanted to have that night. In the last year or two, I haven’t really been able to dream.

Do you believe in ghosts?

I think I’ve seen a ghost. When I was little, I used to have an imaginary friend. He would be on the playground at preschool. I would tell my mom about him. It turns out that he was someone who passed away before I was born! It creeped my mom out.

You just had a big birthday party.

It was Syd’s Planet! We went out of this world. My friends really got into the theme. I wore a vintage piece that was remade for me. It was Britney Spears’s dress from her Circus album. I was a shooting star.

Did you do Halloween this year?

I went with my best friend, her husband, and her twin 2-year-old boys. They dressed up as characters from Dumb and Dumber, and then we all wore Mario Party onesies. I ate all the boys’ candy. I have so many favorite candies. It depends on my mood. If we’re trick-or-treating, I love a good Reese’s cup or Tootsie Roll, but if I’m sitting and watching a movie, I want Sour Patch Kids or Raisinets or Peanut M&M’s. If I’m on a plane, I want an Almond Joy or Twix bar. There’s a candy for everything!

You have a younger brother. Do you get to see him often?

He's in the Air Force, so I never know if I will get to see him [for holidays]. He's stationed outside of London. Anytime I go to London, I always try to see him.

Do you have any scars?

Oh, I do. I have a scar next to my eye. I got it when I was 10. I was wakeboarding, and I jumped the wake and I tried to do a 360, but the tip of my board came up and sliced me in the face. I had to get, like, 17 stitches. I tore my MCL dirt-bike riding, and the scar just never went away. Then I have a keloid scar. I got bit in Australia when I was filming the movie Eden, and I don't know what I got bitten by. It just turned into this crazy crater; then it scarred.

When was the first time you wore high heels?

I've been wearing high heels for a very long time. A pair that was very prominent in my life was Converse with wedge heels in middle school, because I liked sneakers but I felt really short. They were an interesting choice. Sorry, Converse, but they were not it.

Would you say that you’re fearless?

Yes. There are a lot of things that scare me, but that doesn’t stop me. Usually, if something scares me, then I’m going to do it. I have a fear of heights, but I jumped out of a plane and went skydiving. I’ll scream the whole way, but then I’ll want to do it again.

Style Director: Allia Alliata di Montereale. Codirector: Frank Lebon. Director of photography: André Chemetoff. Hair by Jawara for L’Oréal Professional at Art Partner; makeup by Lauren Parsons for Sisley Paris at Art Partner; manicure by Jolene Brodeur for Dazzle Dry at the Wall Group. Set design by David White at Streeters.