Sydney Sweeney Defended Sam Levinson And Said She And Zendaya Weren’t Afraid To “Speak Up” On The “Euphoria” Set If They Saw Something They “Didn’t Like”
“The point is making people uncomfortable and thinking outside the box. What else is the point of art?”
As I’m sure you know, Sydney rose to fame after playing Cassie Howard in Sam’s hit HBO drama Euphoria.
Though widely acclaimed, Euphoria has also garnered a lot of criticism relating to the amount of nudity in the series, which centers on a troubled group of high schoolers.
Amid backlash surrounding the second season in 2022, several of the show’s cast members admitted there were times they felt uncomfortable with the amount of skin they were required to show in certain scenes.
In fact, Sydney was among those to speak out, revealing in January 2022 that she once asked Sam if they could cut back on her character’s nudity.
“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 told the Independent. “He was like, ‘OK, we don't need it.’”
In addition to Euphoria, Sam is also one of the co-creators of The Idol, which stirred up a ton of controversy earlier this year after a Rolling Stone report compared the show to “sexual torture porn.”
For context, TheIdol stars Lily-Rose Depp as a young pop star named Jocelyn who, after suffering a nervous breakdown, finds herself embroiled in a toxic relationship with a cult leader named Tedros, played by The Weeknd (aka Abel Tesfaye).
Similar to Euphoria, The Idol faced a ton of backlash because of its sexual scenes and frequent nudity, prompting Sam, Lily-Rose, and Abel to publicly defend the show’s graphic content on numerous occasions.
And now, in a new interview with Variety, Sydney is weighing in on all the discourse, making it clear that communication was key while they were shooting Euphoria.
“You have me, you have Z, you have all of these very strong-minded, independent women,” she said, referring to Zendaya, the show’s lead. “If we didn’t feel comfortable with something, or we saw something we didn’t like, we’d all speak up.”
Talking more specifically about the widespread criticism of Sam, Sydney admitted that she found it difficult to see false narratives make headlines.
“It’s hard to see someone completely trashed by the public and the media when no one’s actually there,” she said before emphasizing her love for Euphoria, which is currently set to return for a third season in 2025. “We are there, and clearly we’re still working on the show, and we’re still supportive.”
On numerous occasions when defending The Idol, Sam, Abel, and Lily-Rose emphasized that the graphic content was intended to evoke a strong response from viewers, for better or worse.
And while talking to Variety, Sydney, who also stars in The White Lotus, seemed to echo this stance, saying that causing a stir is the whole point when it comes to Sam’s work.
“The point is making people uncomfortable and thinking outside the box. What else is the point of art?” she said. “For me, I feel so free and confident now. And I’ve found that through Cassie.”
This isn’t the first time that Sydney has come to Sam’s defense. After her comments about asking him to limit her nudity went viral in 2022, she backtracked on her initial statement and emphasized that the story was a testament to his “respectful” nature on set.
“It was more how respectful Sam is and how incredible of a director he is that he would never make me do something I didn’t feel comfortable with,” she told Teen Vogue in March 2022.
“There’s a purpose to what that character is going through. That’s the character,” she explained. “We all get naked in real life. We show this character’s life and what they’re going through. Cassie’s body is a different form of communication for her.”
