Sydney Sweeney has opened up about whether she’d ever join OnlyFans after portraying a content creator on the latest season of Euphoria.
The 28-year-old actress reprised her role as Cassie Howard in season three of the hit HBO drama, which sees the character launch an account on the subscription platform and begin sharing explicit content.
Although the storyline sparked backlash from some viewers and reignited debate over the show’s graphic scenes, Sweeney said her focus was on bringing Cassie’s journey to life as truthfully as possible.
Sydney Sweeney has revealed whether she would join OnlyFans. Credit: Daniele Venturelli / Getty
Sweeney drew a line between herself and Cassie
Speaking to Vanity Fair, the Housemaid actress revealed that Euphoria creator Sam Levinson discussed the storyline with her before filming began.
“He sent me all the scripts, and it already had all of Cassie’s scenes in it, the OnlyFan scenes, and he called me afterwards, and he was talking about it, and we (were) talking through it all,” she explained.
According to her, Levinson wanted to make sure she was comfortable with the direction of the storyline. “He asked me how I felt about it, and I told him, ‘Look, I’m playing a character,'” she shared.
The actress stressed that while she understood Cassie’s motivations, she wouldn’t make the same decisions in her own life.
“Do I agree with all of Cassie’s decisions? Would I personally make these choices? No, of course not. But I’m an actor, and that’s my job, and this is Cassie’s life, and to be able to do her justice and play her how she’s to be played is to bring Sam’s vision to life and to play Cassie in the most vulnerable and insane way possible,” she told the outlet.
Cassie’s storyline in Euphoria resulted in criticism online. Credit: HBO Max
Why Cassie turns to OnlyFans
Sweeney said she understands how her character ultimately ended up creating content on the platform.
“From the very beginning, you can see that Cassie has this need to be loved,” she said. “She has a need to be validated by other people. She doesn’t know how to love herself unless someone else loves her.”
“So I understand how Sam got her to where she was in season three. I think she was more excited by the idea of all these people loving her and knowing who she is and feeling like her world isn’t small,” she added.
Interestingly, Levinson recently revealed in an interview with The New York Times that he initially considered filming Cassie’s storyline without showing nudity.
“Well, it’s funny. When I first wrote it, I was like, ‘Maybe we shoot all of this, and we don’t have any nudity. Maybe there’s ways to shoot around certain things?” he told the outlet.
But according to the showrunner, Sweeney quickly shut that idea down: “She looked at me, and she was like, ‘Are you kidding? I’m playing an OnlyFans model. You’re telling me you’re going to like, skirt around it?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, OK, that’s a fair point.'”
Levinson went on to praise the actress: “I think she’s a totally fearless actor. She’s also just wonderfully professional and shows up just game every day. I adore working with her because there’s such a flexibility in terms of the performance. There’s a lot of trust that we have.”
“And look, we’re tackling this world of OnlyFans where women are being paid to, like, whisper into an ear-shaped microphone. There is a level of absurdity to it that is just fun and we’re always trying to come up with ways to make it feel authentic and humorous and dramatic and also speak to the larger wants and wishes of the character,” he added.
Sydney Sweeney said she doesn’t relate to any of the characters she has played. Credit: Andreas Rentz / Getty
‘People have no clue who I actually am’
Elsewhere in her Vanity Fair interview, Sweeney reflected on the difference between herself and the characters she plays, insisting that fans often don’t know the real person behind her screen roles.
“Everybody thinks they have me figured out, but they have no clue who I actually am. That’s why I love acting.”
“The whole point of acting is being able to play all these different characters. It wouldn’t be fun playing myself,” she added.
