'Euphoria': Sydney Sweeney on the Nudity Double Standard in Hollywood

sydney sweeney euphoria
credit: DFree/Shutterstock.com

Euphoria star Sydney Sweeney is not impressed with all the criticism regarding her decision to go nude onscreen. In fact, she finds it quite sexist.

Speaking with Teen Vogue, she expressed her anger over the double standard for men and women when it comes to doing nudity onscreen. She explained,

“I know many successful male actors who, if you put all their films together where they’re either nude or have a sex scene it could be hours worth. But then they win Oscars.”

She continued,

“The moment a girl says it, it takes away from their acting. Everyone’s like, she just shows her boobs because she can’t act.”

Not to mention that female nudity is almost always filmed using the male gaze, objectifying a woman’s body.

sydney sweeney nudity double standard
credit: Eddy Chen/HBO

Although Sydney now finds the female body to be “an art form,” that doesn’t mean that she didn’t struggle with the decision to go nude onscreen.

She admitted that when she first read the script for Euphoria, she hesitated to take the role. She previously told MTV,

“There was a bit of, ‘Ooh, I don’t know if I’m gonna do this because of the nudity.'”

But she soon realized that the nudity wasn’t gratuitous.

“It’s a real scene. It’s not sugar-coated. It’s not glamorized, it’s not covered up, and I was like, that’s what the show is. It’s real, and I really wanted to bring justice to that realness.”

She continued,

“Also, it’s not about the nudity. It’s more about the situation that she is in, and the show never really glamorized the nudity in that, which I think was really important.”

sydney sweeney nudity double standard euphoria
courtesy of HBO

Since making the decision to go nude on screen, she says she’s actually found it to be “empowering.” She said,

“I’ve been a self-conscious person, and after filming those scenes, in some way, I was like, I feel empowered. I feel like nobody can judge me. Like, I just, I put myself out there, and I feel the most confident me.”

In addition to feeling more confident, Sydney has also developed a little trick to make her feel more comfortable with onscreen nudity.

She told Teen Vogue,

“The easiest way that I’ve handled and separated myself from it is — and not everyone is going to agree — I’ve made it where when I see that picture, that is not me. That is Cassie.”

She continued,

“You’re getting to see character, and me as Sydney is very separate. When I see a picture like that, I truly say, that’s Cassie’s nude.”

In addition to going nude in Euphoria, she’s also done so in her latest project The Voyeurs, which features an extended sex scene. The movie features Sydney as a Pippa, a twenty-something who becomes obsessed with watching the sex lives of her neighbors.

You can currently watch The Voyeurs on Amazon Prime.

Meanwhile Euphoria season 2 is currently wrapping up filming. HBO Max has yet to announce a premiere date, however.

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Lena Finkel
Lena Finkel is the Editor and Founder of Femestella and The Feminist Health Source. Prior to starting Femestella, she worked at People, InStyle, Tiger Beat, and Sesame Workshop (aka Sesame Street). She loves all things Real Housewives and The Challenge. When she's not busy binge-watching TV, you can find her taking an absurd amount of photos of her tuxedo cat Tom.