- Sydney Sweeney told The Hollywood Reporter that she won't stop filming nude scenes.
- But the "Euphoria" star said wishes there were an easier way to have a conversation about the scenes in Hollywood.
"Euphoria" star Sydney Sweeney said she won't stop filming nude scenes, but wishes there were an easier way to have a conversation about the assumptions that come with them.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Sweeney revealed that during shoots and on red carpets, she creates a second persona for herself as a way of calming herself down and creating a layer between who she truly is and who she is when she is acting.
"People forget that I'm playing a character," Sweeney told THR of her recent breakout roles in both "The White Lotus" and "Euphoria."
"They think, 'Oh, she gets naked onscreen, she's a sex symbol,'" Sweeney continued, speaking of her nude scenes in "Euphoria."
"And I can't get past that. I have no problems with those scenes, and I won't stop doing them, but I wish there was an easier way to have an open conversation about what we're assuming about actors in the industry," Sweeney said.
Sweeney plays Cassie Howard in "Euphoria," an insecure teen, driven to boys in her high school as a means of getting more attention.
She has previously told Cosmopolitan that she felt "disconnected" from her nude scenes in "Euphoria" because of the technicalities that go into filming them.
"When you film one of these scenes, it is so technical and so not romantic," she said. "There are people staring at you, there's pads between you, there's nipple covers and weird sticker thongs all up in your butt."
In the same interview with Cosmo, the Emmy-nominated star called out the "double-standard" regarding how male and female actors are perceived for doing nude scenes.
Sweeney said that after watching her nude scenes from the erotic thriller "The Voyeurs," she "wondered if I'd done too much."
"I researched celebrities who have done nude scenes, trying to make myself feel better," she said. "There are hour-long compilations of world-famous male actors with nude scenes who win Oscars and get praised for that work. But the moment a woman does it, it degrades them."
She told Variety that she felt comfortable filming these scenes for "Euphoria" and that filming nude as Cassie has actually boosted her body positivity.
"It's a very safe environment. I'm very fortunate that I am coming up during a time where there is so much thought in this process, and we now have intimacy coordinators," Sweeney said. "I have weirdly become very confident with my body through Cassie."
The actress also told The Independent that there were moments in season two of "Euphoria" in which her character was "supposed to be shirtless" and she told showrunner Sam Levinson that she didn't believe it was necessary.
"He was like, 'OK, we don't need it,'" Sweeney said. "I've never felt like Sam has pushed it on me or was trying to get a nude scene into an HBO show. When I didn't want to do it, he didn't make me."