If you've watched season two of Euphoria, you know that Sydney Sweeney's character Cassie has some especially intimate scenes. But, according to the actor, the script called for more nudity than she was comfortable with.
Sydney recently talked about how creator Sam Levinson responded when she asked to nix some of her character's topless scenes — and why she believes critics overlooked her performance as Cassie in the first season because she "got naked" on screen.
"Sam is amazing," said Sydney during a new interview with the Independent, explaining that he was consistently receptive to her notes regarding gratuitous nudity throughout production on Euphoria's latest season.
"There are moments where Cassie was supposed to be shirtless and I would tell Sam, 'I don't really think that's necessary here,'" she recalled. "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 nude scene into an HBO show. When I didn't want to do it, he didn't make me," Sydney said, before adding that — despite how reasonable this sounds — not all of her professional experiences have been as positive.
"I've had experiences where I want to go home and scrub myself completely raw because I feel disgusting ... 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," Sydney continued, acknowledging that in those scenarios, she "didn't feel like [she] was able to speak up" and voice her concerns.
The actor, who's landed roles in other celebrated dramas like The Handmaid's Tale, Sharp Objects, and, most recently, The White Lotus, also shared her thoughts on the "stigma against actresses who get naked on screen" and how it exists in Hollywood. "When a guy has a sex scene or shows his body, he still wins awards and gets praise. But the moment a girl does it, it's completely different," said Sydney.
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She was also subjected to cyberbullying after acting in partially nude scenes during Euphoria's first season. Looking back on a time where people shared screenshots of those scenes on social media and tagged her brother, Sydney called the incidents "disrespectful and distressing," and "the most hurtful thing that anybody could do."
