The actress covers 'Variety' and admits to sometimes feeling 'beat up' by the endless speculation about her.
Sydney Sweeney is sharing what's really going on with her Anyone But You co-star, Glen Powell, as rumors of an off-set romance have circulated about the duo.
The 25-year-old star covers Variety's third Power of Young Hollywood issue, opening up about her complicated experience as the subject of ongoing speculation and tabloid fodder. "Sometimes I feel beat up by it," she tells the trade publication. "It's hard to sit back and watch, and not be able to stand up for yourself."
After behind-the-scenes moments from the set of Anyone But You and a CinemaCon interview with the pair hit the internet, fans began wondering if there was more to their on-screen chemistry than just them playing things up for the cameras. The film -- helmed by Easy A director Will Gluck -- is described as a modernized adaptation of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, and follows two former rivals (played by Sweeney and Powell) who hate each other but have to pretend to be a couple, until an eventual romance sparks between them. It is scheduled to be released on Dec. 15.
"It's a rom-com," she now says of the film, which also serves as her first bout as an executive producer. "That’s what people want! Glen and I don’t really care. We have so much fun together, and we respect each other so much; he’s such a hard worker, and I’m a hard worker. We’re excited for the press tour, and I literally just left ADR with him. We talk all the time like, ‘That’s really funny.’"
Sweeney doubles down on the performative nature of their romantic narrative. "They want it," she says of the fans. "It's fun to give it to 'em."
In real life, Sweeney is engaged to Jonathan Davino. The couple also works together as producing partners on her Fifty-Fifty Films production company.
"I like working with smart individuals," she teases when asked about her working relationship with Davino.
The Euphoria star also opens up about the online conjecture that followed a 60th birthday party she hosted for her mother, Lisa, last year. Initially, the actress took to Instagram to share a carousel of photos from her family's event, with the caption reading, "No better way to celebrate my momma than a surprise hoedown."
The post featured shots of Sweeney and her mother riding a mechanical bull, line dancing and posing next to a western-themed cake. Later, photos from the party went viral after two guests were seen wearing red hats that appeared to be from former President Donald Trump's campaign -- though they were later clarified to read "Make Sixty Great Again." Sweeney also shared a photo where one guest had on a Blue Lives Matter T-shirt. At the time, she denied that the celebration was meant to be any kind of political statement.
"There were so many misinterpretations," Sweeney tells Variety. "The people in the pictures weren’t even my family. The people who brought the things that people were upset about were actually my mom’s friends from L.A. who have kids that are walking outside in the Pride parade, and they thought it would be funny to wear because they were coming to Idaho."
Elsewhere in the interview, Sweeney also muses on the shocking changes to her everyday life since becoming a household name.
"People are so fast to build someone up, and then they love tearing them down," she says of fame. "And it’s so fascinating to see. Three years ago, I was going to college just like everybody else. And all of a sudden, I’m not a human anymore."
With a long list of projects under her belt and in the works, Sweeney is also keeping focus on her own future out of the spotlight. She's hoping, she says, "to find a really healthy balance."
"I always thought I’d have a kid by now. I always wanted to be a young mom. I love acting, I love the business, I love producing, I love all of it. But what’s the point if I’m not getting to share it with a family?" she shares.
Then, affecting a tone the writer describes as "whimsical," Sweeney continues, "The time will come, and I’ll have four kids. And they will come with me everywhere and be my best friends."
When ET last spoke with Sweeney in May, the actress was promoting her new biopic, Reality, about the real-life political figure and whistleblower Reality Winner, who was charged and imprisoned under the Espionage Act in 2018 for leaking documents about Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Reflecting on what appealed to her about the part, Sweeney shared, "Just how complex Reality was as a character."
"I've never seen a script that was taken directly from a transcript of a real moment of someone's life," she explained. "So, just playing something like that was just different than anything I've done before."
In her new interview with Variety, Sweeney deftly ties the role back to her own experiences with the media.
"When we have a two-hour conversation and there’s six quotes in it, it’s so hard to have the context behind what we’re speaking about, and how we’re saying it to each other," she says, noting that she's learned not to respond directly to rumors.
"I’ll see my uncle comment on things and I’m like, ‘You gotta stop,’" she adds. "But it’s so hard, because I grew up in a small town, and they don’t get the business of it all. Just like Reality, it was all these tabloids and headlines, but no one knew the actual story."
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