Sydney Sweeney says she had no hesitation about committing to Cassie Howard’s controversial season three storyline on Euphoria, even if she would never make the same choices in real life.
The 28-year-old actress opened up about filming the latest season of the HBO drama, in which Cassie begins creating explicit content on OnlyFans. Speaking with Vanity Fair, Sweeney said series creator Sam Levinson sent her the scripts before production and spoke with her directly about the scenes.
“He sent me all the scripts, and it already had all of Cassie’s scenes in it, the OnlyFan scenes, and he called me afterward, and he was talking about it, and we were talking through it all,” Sweeney said.
According to Sweeney, Levinson asked how she felt about the material. Her answer was rooted in the work. “He asked me how I felt about it, and I told him, ‘Look, I’m playing a character,’” she said. “Do I agree with all of Cassie’s decisions? Would I personally make these choices? No, of course not.”
For Sweeney, the storyline was about portraying Cassie honestly rather than sanitizing the character’s choices. “But I’m an actor, and that’s my job, and this is Cassie’s life, and to be able to do her justice and play her how she’s to be played is to bring Sam’s vision to life and to play Cassie in the most vulnerable and insane way possible,” she said.
The new season of Euphoria, which also stars Zendaya, Jacob Elordi and the late Eric Dane, has drawn criticism from some viewers over its explicit scenes. But Sweeney said she understands how Levinson arrived at Cassie’s storyline, pointing to the character’s long-running need for love and validation.
“From the very beginning, you can see that Cassie has this need to be loved,” Sweeney said. “She has a need to be validated by other people. She doesn’t know how to love herself unless someone else loves her.”
She added that the OnlyFans arc tracks emotionally with Cassie’s history on the show. “So I understand how Sam got her to where she was in season three,” she said. “I think she was more excited by the idea of all these people loving her and knowing who she is and feeling like her world isn’t small.”
Levinson recently told The New York Times that Sweeney pushed for the show not to avoid the reality of Cassie’s storyline. “Well, it’s funny, when I first wrote it, I was like, ‘Maybe we shoot all of this and we don’t have any nudity, maybe there’s ways to shoot around certain things?’” Levinson said. “And she looked at me and she was like, ‘Are you kidding? I’m playing an OnlyFans model. You’re telling me you’re going to like, skirt around it?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, OK, that’s a fair point.’”
While Sweeney said she was willing to go where Cassie’s story required, she made clear there is a line between the character and herself.
Cassie may seek validation online. Sweeney, however, says that choice is not for her.
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