Euphoria's Sydney Sweeney Says She Asked Director to Cut Some of Cassie's N-de Scenes
Sydney Sweeney said that while she's always felt comfortable on the Euphoria set, not every environment she's worked in has felt so secure
Sydney Sweeney isn't afraid to flip the script.
In a new interview with The Independent, the 24-year-old, who stars as Cassie Howard in Euphoria, revealed she asked producers to cut some of her character's n-de scenes, which she says director Sam Levinson has supported.
According to the actress, in the latest season of the HBO hit, "there are moments where Cassie was supposed to be shirtless and I would tell Sam, 'I don't really think that's necessary here.' He was like, 'OK, we don't need it.' "
"I've never felt like Sam has pushed it on me or was trying to get a n-de scene into an HBO show. When I didn't want to do it, he didn't make me," she added.
While Euphoria has an intim-cy coordinator and Sweeney said she's always felt comfortable on set, she acknowledged that not every environment she's worked in has felt so secure.
"I've had experiences where I want to go home and scrub myself completely raw because I feel disgusting," she told the online newspaper, recalling a negative experience without mentioning the project by name.
"I didn't feel comfortable with my cast mate or the crew, and I just didn't feel like my character would be doing it," she said of the situation. "That made me even more self-conscious. I didn't feel like I was able to speak up."
Also in her interview, Sweeney talked the frustration she's felt over being praised for some of her projects over others. The actress starred as Olivia Mossbacher in The White Lotus and Eden in The Handmaid's Tale.
"With The White Lotus, I felt like people were finally recognizing the hard work I've been doing. This is something that has bothered me for a while," Sweeney said. "I'm very proud of my work in Euphoria. I thought it was a great performance. But no one talks about it because I got n-ked. I do The White Lotus and all of a sudden critics are paying attention. I was like, 'Did you not see that in Euphoria? Did you not see that in The Handmaid's Tale?'
On a larger level, Sweeney suspects there's "a stigma against actresses who get n-ked on screen".
"When a guy has a s-x scene or shows his body, he still wins awards and gets praise. But the moment a girl does it, it's completely different," she said.
New episodes of Euphoria air Sundays on HBO and HBO Max.
