Sydney Sweeney has been candid about her “Euphoria” character, Cassie, and the ins and outs of her story arc ever since season two concluded back in February. She previously opened up about her nude scenes on the show in an interview with The Independent, dispelling myths that she was uncomfortable shooting them. This time, she’s speaking out about people hypersexualizing her in real life, just like her onscreen portrayal.
“It’s kind of funny: What was being said about Cassie in ‘Euphoria,’ the public then decided to do to me in real life.”
“I was highly sexualized in high school because I had boobs. It’s kind of funny: What was being said about Cassie in ‘Euphoria,’ the public then decided to do to me in real life,” Sweeney told Elle in her November cover story. “Which I thought was so crazy, because we were trying to show a character who was so hypersexualized, and what could have been the cause and effects for her. And they just continue to do it.”
This isn’t the first time Sweeney has called out the irony in people hypersexualizing her teen “Euphoria” character. In a May interview with the Emmys, she called out the media and others for perpetuating the same treatment Cassie endures on the show in real life. “I think it’s funny how much people seem to focus on the nudity when that’s just a fragment of her storyline,” she told the outlet. “You see the parallels of what Cassie’s world does to her – how they sexualize her – and it’s supposed to be a lesson to the world of how that can happen to a girl. And then I see the press and people doing that to me. So it’s kind of ironic and funny.”
The topic of sexualization has been a running theme on “Euphoria” with different stars on the show taking opposing views of what’s too much for the already explicit teen drama. Minka Kelly, who plays rich mom Samantha whom Maddy (Alexa Demie) babysits for, previously told Vanity Fair she pushed back about a scene in episode two, “Out of Touch,” when creator and director Sam Levinson originally planned for her to appear nude after Maddy unzips her gown.
“That was my first day as a guest on this new show, and I just didn’t feel comfortable standing there naked,” she said. “[Levinson] thought it would be more interesting if my dress fell to the ground. . . . I said, ‘I’d love to do this scene, but I think we can keep my dress on.’ He was like, ‘OK!’ He didn’t even hesitate.”
Others like Jacob Elordi, who plays Nate, previously spoke of his nude scenes during a March appearance on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” and said his “Euphoria” nudity “comes with the territory of the character.”
