Sydney Sweeney

Sydney Bernice Sweeney was born in Spokane, Washington, and was raised in the Idaho panhandle near the Washington border. Her mother, Lisa, was a criminal defense lawyer, while her father, Steven, worked in hospitality and as a pharmaceutical representative. She has a younger brother, Trent, who joined the Air Force in 2020.

Sweeney became interested in acting after an independent film was shot in the Spokane area. At 11, she prepared a five-year business plan to persuade her parents to let her audition. She began booking commercial work in Seattle and Portland before moving with her family to Los Angeles at 13. She attended Brighton Hall School in Burbank and was valedictorian of her graduating class.

As a student, Sweeney participated in mathematics and robotics activities and was active in sports. She later developed a background in mixed martial arts, training in grappling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and kickboxing. At 18, she won a grappling tournament in a bracket made up entirely of male competitors in a higher weight class.

Sweeney made her television debut in 2009 with a small role on Heroes and had her first film role in the horror comedy ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction. She subsequently appeared in guest and supporting roles on Criminal Minds, 90210, Grey's Anatomy, The Middle, and Pretty Little Liars. Her early web and television credits included Haley Caren in In the Vault.

In 2018, Sweeney played Emaline Addario in the Netflix series Everything Sucks! and Alice in the HBO miniseries Sharp Objects. She also portrayed Eden Spencer in the second season of The Handmaid's Tale, a role that earned her and the ensemble a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination. During production of Sharp Objects, she researched the experiences of girls affected by mental illness and self-harm to prepare for Alice.

Her film work during this period included Under the Silver Lake, Along Came the Devil, Clementine, Big Time Adolescence, and Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Her role as Dianne "Snake" Lake in the latter film helped increase attention around her work.

In 2019, Sweeney joined HBO's Euphoria as Cassie Howard, a teenager whose story involves toxic friendships, infidelity, sexual shame, and emotional turmoil. The series became her breakthrough role, and her performance received critical praise for its shifts between vulnerability, confidence, and instability. She returned as Cassie for the show's second season and its third season.

Sweeney received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for the second season. Her work on the series also generated discussion about the show's treatment of nudity and the way female performers are viewed onscreen. Sweeney has said that she regarded the nudity in Euphoria as unglamorized and grounded in the characters' reality.

The role connected Sweeney professionally with Zendaya, who stars as Rue Bennett, and Alexa Demie, with whom Sweeney shared the 2022 MTV Movie & TV Award for Best Fight for a scene in the series.

Sweeney appeared in the first season of Mike White's anthology series The White Lotus in 2021. She played Olivia Mossbacher, a cynical college student vacationing with her family at a luxury resort in Hawaii. The series combined social satire with a murder mystery and became a major critical and audience success.

Sweeney received a second Primetime Emmy nomination in 2022, this time for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. Her fellow cast member Jennifer Coolidge won the award.

Sweeney starred as former NSA contractor and whistleblower Reality Winner in Tina Satter's 2023 film Reality. The film premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival, where her performance drew strong reviews for its tension and close attention to Winner's speech and behavior. Sweeney received a Critics' Choice Television Award nomination and won a Gracie Award for her work in the film.

She followed Reality with a leading role in the romantic comedy Anyone But You, sharing the screen with Glen Powell. Sweeney served as an executive producer, helped bring Powell and director Will Gluck to the project, and contributed to the script. The film was loosely adapted from Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing and became a sleeper hit.

In 2024, she appeared as Julia Cornwall in the superhero film Madame Web and starred in the psychological horror film Immaculate. Sweeney had originally auditioned for Immaculate in 2014, later purchased the screenplay's rights, and hired Michael Mohan to direct it. She also appeared in Ron Howard's survival thriller Eden and hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live.

Sweeney's film work included the 2025 survival drama Echo Valley, in which she co-starred with Julianne Moore, and the historical survival film Eden. She learned to ride horses for her role in Echo Valley.

In Christy, Sweeney portrayed professional boxer Christy Martin and also served as a producer. She described the role as an opportunity to explore a character with many layers and to transform physically and athletically. The film received positive critical attention for her performance, including a Virtuoso Award from the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, and Sweeney called it the most impactful project of her life.

She also co-starred with Amanda Seyfried in The Housemaid, an adaptation of Freida McFadden's thriller novel. Sweeney played Wilhelmina "Millie" Calloway and is set to reprise the role in the sequel The Housemaid's Secret.

Sweeney founded Fifty-Fifty Films in 2020 to develop and produce screen projects. The company's credits include Anyone But You and Immaculate, both of which starred Sweeney. Her work as a producer has allowed her to pursue projects in which she also performs, including Christy and the upcoming film The Custom of the Country.

Her announced projects include the live-action Gundam film, Scandalous!, Hollow, The Caretaker, Split Fiction, I Pretended to Be a Missing Girl, and Barbarella. She is also expected to continue developing projects through Honey Trap, a production company she launched with producer Kaylee McGregor under a first-look arrangement with Sony Pictures.