“Euphoria” Star Sydney Sweeney is Cosmopolitan’s “Love Issue” Cover Star

Behind the scenes, Sydney Sweeney couldn’t be less like Nate-obsessed Cassie on “Euphoria” or snarky Olivia on “The White Lotus.” In real life, she’s a power player in charge of her own destiny. The 24-year-old has been dramatically transforming her own life and is determined to be the person in control of her career. She’s been optioning a slew of projects through her company Fifty-Fifty Films, writing screenplays, and solidifying her spot as a next-gen A-list actor. Get to know the real Sydney Sweeney, in conversation with writer Jessica Goodman for Cosmopolitan’s Love Issue cover story.

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On diving deep into her projects by creating what she calls “character bibles,” backstories and inner lives that often take months to catalog:

“There are characters I love, and then there are characters I’m scared of—those are the good ones.”

On industry pressure:

“It’s terrifying because this is the kind of industry where everyone gets to watch you fail. It’s a lot of pressure. But everyone is going to have good and bad; no one has a perfect slate of box-office hits.

On straddling a double life as she was trying to get her acting career off the ground:

“At that time, I wasn’t the most confident person. I knew I was a good actor, but no one believed in me. I was told to lose weight or that my hair was the wrong color. Random things that make you start to question, Am I not going to ever become my dream?”

On how she relates to her Euphoria character Cassie:

“I don’t agree with all of Cassie’s decisions, but I remember being a teenage girl and letting my heart speak louder than my mind, so I would probably make some of the same decisions that she did.”

On how she feels about doing nude scenes:

“When I saw The Voyeurs for the first time, I wondered if I’d done too much. I researched celebrities who have done nude scenes, trying to make myself feel better. 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. They’re not actresses. They just take off their tops so they can get a role. There’s such a double standard and I really hope I can have a little part in changing that.”

On being thoughtful about what she shares on social media:

“I would love to share my normal life so that people can see that it’s not all glamour. But I can’t because one, I like my privacy, and two, social media is another platform for business.”

[Photo Credit: Josefina Santos for Cosmopolitan Magazine]

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