Sydney Sweeney shot to fame after landing a role in the Emmy-winning HBO series Euphoria. On the show, she plays Cassie Howard, a popular cheerleader who has a constant for validation from people around her (especially men).Sweeney may have been working in Hollywood long before she booked the series (she was in The Handmaid’s Tale before this) but evidently, Cassie is the character that she has become most recognized for, so much so that the actress has even received two Emmy nods for her performance so far.Sweeney’s career has, indeed, taken off since starring in Euphoria even landing a small role in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood with Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Margo Robbie.The Washington native has also gone on to book other episodic projects such as The White Lotus.Despite all this, however, Sweeney has revealed that she’s still not earning enough from acting to sustain a Hollywood lifestyle.
When She Was Younger, Sydney Sweeney Lived In A Hotel
Growing up, Sweeney’s family struggled financially. And so, one day, they packed up their bags and moved into the Holiday Inn in Burbank where four of them stayed in one room for nine months.
It was a rough time in their lives, but Sweeney and her brother “made the best of it” as she joked that they were living “the poor version of The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.”
They befriended the staff and snuck into the kitchen to make grilled cheese sandwiches. The siblings also discovered a “secret set of stairs” that led to two abandoned floors. There, they would roam the halls as they “searched for treasure.”
“There's also a beautiful memory in that time, too,” the actress reflected.
Despite everything, Sweeney dreamed of being an actress even as a child. She even put together a presentation for her parents so that she could gain their support, and it worked.
Unfortunately, the actress also later realized that not everything works out as intended despite putting all sorts of plans in place. The morning she turned 18, she was miserable.
“I always thought that when I turned 18, I’d have made enough money to buy my parent’s old house back,” Sweeney explained.
“And somehow by buying that house back, it would have [brought] my parents back together.”
Still determined to make it though, Sweeney kept going. And after booking some small roles in shows and films, the actress eventually landed the role of young Eden Spencer in The Handmaid’s Tale before getting cast in Euphoria soon after.
As she would discover though, being on a hit show doesn’t necessarily pay off well, especially in the era of streaming.
Sydney Sweeney Says Her Lifestyle Doesn't Come Cheap
Recently, Euphoria wrapped up its second season, and while the entire cast is happy to keep the show going, Sweeney also seems to admit that it hasn’t been fulfilling financially. According to reports, the actress was paid $25,000 per episode for her work during the first season.
Meanwhile, following the show’s critical acclaim, Sweeney supposedly received a substantial raise for season 2, essentially getting $350,000 for her work on the entire season, which amounts to roughly $43,750 per episode (Euphoria released eight episodes for the second season).
Sydney 'Takes Deals' Out Of Necessity
Despite the increase though, the actress admits that it still isn’t enough. “If I wanted to take a six-month break, I don’t have income to cover that,” Sweeney explained. “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 also explained that dealing with a streamer is different from a network since there is no opportunity to collect backend pay.
“They don’t pay actors like they used to, and with streamers, you no longer get residuals,” Sweeney said. “The established stars still get paid, but I have to give 5 percent to my lawyer, 10 percent to my agents, 3 percent or something like that to my business manager. I have to pay my publicist every month, and that’s more than my mortgage.”
In the end, the actress concluded, “If I just acted, I wouldn’t be able to afford my life in L.A. I take deals because I have to.” At present, the deals Sweeney has taken for far involve Armani and Miu Miu. In the past, she’s also collaborated with skincare brand St. Ives on Instagram.
Meanwhile, aside from Euphoria, Sweeney is already working on a couple of other future projects. For starters, she stars in the upcoming action crime National Anthem with Paul Walter Hauser, Halsey, and Eric Dane.
At the same time, the actress was also cast in the upcoming Spider-Man spinoff Madame Web where she is sharing the screen with Dakota Johnson. As for Sweeney’s Emmy-winning show, Euphoria has already been renewed for a third season.
On the other hand, it also seems that Sweeney may not have to rely that much on acting for much longer. The actress has also started producing her own projects, including The Players Table, which was sold to HBO Max.
“We are in the process of writing the episodes. So it’s quite a long process. Everything that you see, before anyone ever gets cast in a project, is years and years of work,” she explained.
“It’s years of packaging a project. It’s years of developing a pitch. It’s years of convincing people that they should believe in you, put money into your show or movie, and then you have to develop the entire series. And so we’ve been writing multiple episodes right now.”
Sweeney and Halsey are expected to star in the series while actress Annabelle Attanasio is writing it.
