Almost exactly three years ago, in July 2022, the actor Sydney Sweeney gave an interview to the Hollywood Reporter that was refreshingly frank about finances.
At the time, Sweeney was 24, fresh off the contentious buzz of Euphoria’s second season, and undeniably on the up in Hollywood as one of gen Z’s very few in-demand actors. And yet, as she told the magazine, she did not have the money to cover even a six-month break from the industry. Unlike some of her Euphoria peers, Sweeney is not a nepo baby; she was raised middle-class in northern Idaho and Spokane, Washington, and began working as a child actor at 13. She acted continuously throughout her teens – on Criminal Minds and Grey’s Anatomy, then small roles on prestige projects like Sharp Objects, The Handmaid’s Tale and Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood – because there was no fallback cushion. “I don’t have someone supporting me, I don’t have anyone I can turn to, to pay my bills or call for help,” she said.
