Sydney Sweeney Addressed The Brutal Response To “Madame Web,” And Here’s What People Think Of Her Refreshingly Honest Answer

“I was just along for the ride for whatever was going to happen.”

By
Ellen Durney
by Ellen Durney

BuzzFeed Staff

For better or worse, most great actors in Hollywood end up with a couple of subpar movies on their résumé. And for Sydney Sweeney, that milestone has come fairly early in her career.

Sydney in off-shoulder gown speaking into a microphone at an event
Gilbert Flores / SXSW Conference & Festivals via Getty Images

By now I’m sure you’ve heard about Madame Web, Sony’s disastrously disappointing superhero movie starring Dakota Johnson.

Dakota Johnson and Sydney Sweeney in elegant dresses pose together at an event. Dakota is wearing a chainmail-style dress and Sydney is wearing a lacy, scoop-neck gown
Lionel Hahn / WireImage

To contextualize, the film hit theaters on Valentine’s Day and debuted with one of the worst box office openings for a superhero movie ever. It currently has an average rating of 12% on Rotten Tomatoes, and the reviews were so poor that Sony reportedly ruled out the prospect of any future movies in the franchise.

Sydney and Dakota stand in a subway station in a scene from the film
James Devaney / GC Images

It managed to make $96 million at the box office, fortunately making enough to cover its initial budget. But that wasn’t enough to escape global “flop” status.

The cast of Madame Web on the red carpet
Frederic J. Brown / AFP via Getty Images

It was the butt of jokes at last week’s Oscars ceremony, with host Jimmy Kimmel garnering big laughs from the audience after saying in his opening monologue, “The people in this room somehow managed to come up with so many excellent films and memorable performances. This night is full of enormous talent and untold potential, but so was Madame Web.”

Despite admitting on previous occasions that she hadn’t even watched the film, Dakota recently addressed its failure head-on, telling Bustle, “Unfortunately, I’m not surprised that this has gone down the way it has.”

A close-up of Dakota Johnson wearing a diamond necklace at a "Madame Web" event
Frederic J. Brown / AFP via Getty Images

"It was a real learning experience, and of course it’s not nice to be a part of something that’s ripped to shreds," she said, "but I can’t say that I don’t understand."

And now, after cracking a joke about the movie on Saturday Night Live earlier this month, Sydney is following in Dakota's footsteps and tackling the criticism directly.

A close-up of Sydney in an elegant dress with a plunging neckline and stacked statement necklace
Christopher Polk / Variety via Getty Images

As you’ll probably know, at just 26 years old, Sydney has already had a very successful career apart from her foray into the superhero universe. In addition to hit TV shows like The White Lotus and Euphoria, her recent rom-com Anyone but You was a box office smash, making more than $200 million worldwide.

Sydney looking up at her costar Glen Powell at the "Anyone but You" event premiere
John Lamparski / WireImage

And in light of this, it sounds as if Sydney isn’t too concerned about Madame Web’s lack of critical and commercial success, telling the Los Angeles Times that it’s all part of the job.

Sydney in a deep V-neck gown smiles at the camera at an event
Gilbert Flores / Variety via Getty Images

“I was just hired as an actress in it, so I was just along for the ride for whatever was going to happen,” she told the outlet in an interview published Tuesday.

With all the buzz around Sydney’s upcoming horror movie, Immaculate, it didn’t take long for her quotes about Madame Web to circulate online. And it looks as if fans are enjoying her refreshingly honest take on the matter.

Sydney in a white off-shoulder dress with her hair down, looking over her shoulder
Brendon Thorne / Getty Images

“she said a job is a job,” one wrote person on X (formerly Twitter), while someone else coined the name “Sydney ‘I Clock In Then I Clock Out’ Sweeney.”


“she said long as the check cleared, baby idc,” added another user.


“Sydney ‘idk i just work here’ Sweeney,” someone else joked about the actor’s unfazed attitude.

And while Sydney only had a few words to say about the Madame Web debacle, costar Dakota reflected more deeply on why the film was such a disaster — partly blaming wider problems in the movie industry.

Dakota in a denim outfit at an event
Michael Loccisano / Getty Images

“Decisions are being made by committees, and art does not do well when it’s made by committee. Films are made by a filmmaker and a team of artists around them,” she said in her Bustle interview. “You cannot make art based on numbers and algorithms.”


She continued, “My feeling has been for a long time that audiences are extremely smart, and executives have started to believe that they’re not. Audiences will always be able to sniff out bullshit. Even if films start to be made with AI, humans aren’t going to fucking want to see those.”

You can read everything Dakota had to say here. And you can find Sydney’s recent interview with the Los Angeles Times here.

Topics in this article

Skip to footer