Sydney Bernice Sweeney was born on September 12, 1997,[4][1] inSpokane, Washington.[5][6] Her mother is a formercriminal defense lawyer and her father works in thehospitality industry.[7] She has one brother.[8] Sweeney was raised in theIdaho panhandle[9] along the Washington border at a rural lakeside home that her family has inhabited for five generations.[10] She has said her family is religious.[11] Sweeney attended school atSaint George's School in Spokane.[12] She was active in numerous sports: "I was in every single sport possible...I was on the soccer team, the baseball team, the snow slalom ski team, I was wakeboarding." Sweeney said she had a wakeboarding accident as a child when the edge of her board propelled backward and sliced the area next to her eye, leaving a permanent scar.[10] She also participated in combat sports including taekwondo, jujitsu, grappling, and kickboxing.[13] Sweeney said she began practicing combat sports at age 5 to help manage herhyperactivity.[14]
Sweeney became interested in acting after auditioning to be an extra in an independent film that was shooting in the Spokane area.[12] To convince her parents to allow her to pursue acting, she presented them with a five-yearbusiness plan.[15] Sweeney began to audition and book commercial acting jobs in Seattle andPortland, Oregon, where the family temporarily resided, until moving to Los Angeles at age 13.[16] In high school, Sweeney was on the robotics team and in the mathematics club.[17] She wasvaledictorian of her graduating class atBrighton Hall School inBurbank, California.[18] In 2016, Sweeney briefly worked atUniversal Studios Hollywood, but left after she was hired for an acting job. Sweeney briefly attended theUniversity of California, Los Angeles.[19]
Career
Early work (2009–2019)
Sweeney in 2019
As a child actress, Sweeney debuted on television in 2009 with a bit part in an episode of the seriesHeroes.[20] Her first film role was in the 2010 horror comedyZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction.[21] She played supporting roles in television shows such as90210,Criminal Minds,Grey's Anatomy andPretty Little Liars.[22][23] In 2018, she starred as Emaline Addario in theNetflix seriesEverything Sucks!, which revolved around two groups ofhigh school students in Oregon in 1996. She appeared in theHBO miniseriesSharp Objects, recurring as Alice, a roommate whomAmy Adams's character meets at apsychiatric facility.[24][25] Her character originally had a smaller role, but the director kept bringing her in for more scenes.[26] For the role, Sweeney studied stories of girls who experiencemental illness andself-harming, and visited hospitals with patients who self-harmed.[24][26] She filmedEverything Sucks! andSharp Objects concurrently, the former during the week and latter on weekends.[27]
In June 2019, Sweeney took the role ofCassie Howard, a teenager with a reputation for promiscuity, in theHBO drama seriesEuphoria.[33] The show was a breakout hit, becoming the second most watchedHBO series.[34] Her performance was praised, earning a nomination for thePrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in2022.[35]Variety wrote that her performance "proves that Sweeney's one hell of a shapeshifter between her deft turns in this,The Handmaid's Tale,Everything Sucks andSharp Objects."[36] Her many nude scenes in the series received significant attention, generating discussions aboutnudity in film and themale gaze. Sweeney has said she does not consider on-screen nudity to be a boundary.[37]
In 2023, Sweeney starred asU.S. Air Force veteranReality Winner inTina Satter's thriller dramaReality, which premiered in February at the73rd Berlin Film Festival. Steph Green ofIndieWire called the film "inventively mounted and extraordinarily tense" and Sweeney "the real deal".[46] Jessica Kiang ofVariety wrote that she played Winner "so convincingly that it's hard to remember her as the sardonic, pampered teen inThe White Lotus, or the nice-girl-turned-nasty inEuphoria".[47] Sweeney next had a role in the crime thrillerAmericana, which premiered at theSouth by Southwest Festival in March 2023.[48][49]
Sweeney starred in the video forthe Rolling Stones' single "Angry", from their 2023 albumHackney Diamonds.[50] In response to criticism that the video objectified her, she defended it as "empowerment through embracing my body".[51] At age 25, Sweeney was selected as one ofForbes's 202330 Under 30 in the celebrity category.[52][53] She andGlen Powell starred in the romantic comedyAnyone but You, which premiered in December 2023.[54] It became a commercialsleeper hit.[55] Sweeney was an executive producer for the film and was instrumental in hiring Powell and directorWill Gluck. She also contributed to the script.[56]
In 2024, Sweeney had a supporting role in thesuperhero filmMadame Web, set inSony's Spider-Man Universe franchise.[57][58] It was released in February and received negative reviews,bombing at the box office.[59][60] Of the film's commercial and critical failure, Sweeney said, "I was just hired as an actress in it, so I was just along for the ride for whatever was going to happen."[61] In March 2024, Sweeney hosted an episode ofSaturday Night Live.[62] Following her appearance, conservative Canadian newspaperNational Post ran an article asking "Are Sydney Sweeney's breasts double-D harbingers of the death ofwoke?"[63][64] and right-wing academicRichard Hanania tweeted "Wokeness is dead" alongside a clip of Sweeney centered on her bust.[65] Sweeney called the obsession with her appearance "this weird relationship that people have with me that I have no control over".[66]
Sweeney then produced and starred in the psychological horror filmImmaculate.[67] Sweeney originally auditioned for the project in 2014. Years later, she purchased the rights to the screenplay and hired frequent collaborator Michael Mohan to direct.[68] Sweeney has said that she considered producing a way to create opportunities for herself.[69] Later in 2024, she co-starred inEden, directed byRon Howard.[70] Reviewing the film forTheWrap, critic Chase Hutchinson wrote that Sweeney "runs away with the whole thing ... it's her subtle looks and a growing agency that turnsEden into something more ... every moment with her at the forefront isEden at its best."[71]
In June 2025, Sweeney starred alongsideJulianne Moore inEcho Valley.[72] She learned how to ride horses for the role.[73] In August,Americana was released in theaters to low box office. Several medias labeled it a flop, thoughDeadline argued that it would be profitable in terms of anindie film.[74]Christy, a biopic about boxerChristy Martin, had its world premiere at the2025 Toronto International Film Festival.[75] In addition to starring in the film, Sweeney also produced it.[76] Of taking the role, Sweeney said: "I was blown away and inspired by [Martin's] strength, her perseverance, and who she is as a woman. Having a character that has so many layers and depths, that's a dream as an actor... Then, on the physical side, I grew up kickboxing and grappling. I'm a very outdoorsy, athletic person, so to play a character that [required me] to transform myself was a dream. I loved every part of it."[77] Sweeney's performance was lauded by critic Owen Gleiberman, who wrote that Sweeney gave a "potent, true-note, game-changing knockout of a performance ... She fully expresses the soul of a movie star, which is this: She completely becomes the character, and in doing so becomes us."[78] Though the film was well received critically, it bombed at the box office. In the aftermath, Sweeney said: "I am so deeply proud of this movie ... We don’t always just make art for numbers, we make it for impact. AndChristy has been the most impactful project of my life."[79]
In July 2025, Sweeney appeared in an advertising campaign forAmerican Eagle Outfitters called"Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans",[87] which became a subject of controversy.[88] Some social media users claimed that the pun on "jeans" and "genes", associated with a blonde-haired, blue-eyed white woman, promotedeugenics andwhite supremacy.[89][90][91] This, in turn, increasedleft-wing criticism of the campaign. The controversy was widely reported, and theTrump administration commented on it.[92][93][94][95]The Hollywood Reporter was unsure whether this "media firestorm" had negatively impacted the box office returns ofAmericana.[96] American Eagle Outfitters later praised the campaign as a great success and said they were planning other collaborations with Sweeney.[97]
Personal life
Sweeney started dating businessman Jonathan Davino in 2018, and they became engaged in 2022.[98][99][100] They produced films together (includingAnyone but You andImmaculate), and Sweeney considered Davino her "producing partner".[100] The couple separated in 2025.[101][102]
Sweeney is an automobile enthusiast. She has restored a 1969Ford Bronco and a 1965Ford Mustang, and also owns a 1956Ford F100 with original patina, gifted by her grandfather.[103][104] As part of her partnership withFord, Sweeney designed a custom 2024 Mustang.[105]
In 2021, Sweeney purchased a 3,200-square-foot (300 m2)Tudor-style home in Los Angeles, forUS$3 million.[106] In 2023, she bought aUS$9.9 million "fixer-upper mansion" in Los Angeles'sBel Air neighborhood, and in 2024 she bought aUS$13.5 million home in theFlorida Keys.[106]
Filmography
Key
†
Denotes film or TV productions that have not yet been released
^D'Alessandro, Anthony."Sydney Sweeney's 'Americana' Wasn't A Bomb, Rather A Niche Play: Understanding Indie Box Office Economics". Deadline. RetrievedAugust 19, 2025.This brings us to the Sydney Sweeney-starring, originally Bron-financed Tony Tost-written-directed western, Americana, which the media has condemned as a flat-out bomb in its $500K opening at 1,100 theaters, particularly in the wake of the Euphoria star's controversial American Eagle jeans campaign.
^Kaufman, Anna (July 29, 2025)."Sydney Sweeney's American Eagle jeans ad sparks controversy: Here's why".USA Today.Archived from the original on August 4, 2025. RetrievedAugust 12, 2025.With the lens lingering intimately on her figure, and the apparent sensual tone throughout the campaign, consumers were quick to point out what they saw as the regressive nature of the material. A blonde bombshell catering to the male gaze, they argued, was a quintessential symbol of a bygone era. (...) Even more concerning, critics argued, was the use of Sweeney as the archetype of "good genes." A conventionally attractive, white, thin, blonde woman with blue eyes being held up not just as the beauty ideal but as the pinnacle of good breeding bordered on eugenic thinking, they asserted, and contributed to the glorification of whiteness.
^Mouriquand, David (July 29, 2025)."Explained: Why is Sydney Sweeney's American Eagle fashion ad being called 'tone-deaf' and 'Nazi'?".Euronews.Archived from the original on August 5, 2025. RetrievedAugust 10, 2025.Indeed, critics have accused the ad of peddling "Nazi" propaganda, pointing out that the play on words with "great genes" has racist connotations and veers towards white supremacist ideals. Many have also highlighted that considering Sweeney is blue-eyed and blonde-haired, it echoes eugenic messaging.(...)Sayantani DasGupta, a professor of Narrative Medicine, has even analysed the ads in a viral TikTok post, showing how the American Eagle campaign is "imbued with eugenic messaging", which has seen the "forced sterilization and decrease of reproduction among undesirable communities" in the American South. The professor concluded the American Eagle advert is "contributing to and reinforcing this kind of anti-immigrant, anti-people of colour, pro-eugenic, political moment."
^Yang, Angela (July 28, 2025)."American Eagle sparks backlash for touting Sydney Sweeney's 'great jeans'".NBC News. RetrievedAugust 19, 2025.It's the latest controversy to highlight a growing cultural rift over perceived "wokeness" as conservative-leaning culture swings back into the mainstream. In recent years, those on the online right have often praised media that unapologetically upholds traditional white American beauty standards, especially when it doesn't come with any attempt to be inclusive.
^Bensinger, Ken; Thompson, Stuard A. (August 7, 2025)."How the Right Shaped the Debate Over the Sydney Sweeney Ads".The New York Times.Archived from the original on August 7, 2025. RetrievedAugust 7, 2025.[JD Vance's] comments joined a chorus of Republican and right-wing voices who argued that a new American Eagle ad campaign with Ms. Sweeney, one of Hollywood's top young stars, had stoked left-wing outrage over its slogan: "Sydney Sweeney has great jeans." They claimed that progressives were up in arms over the intentional double-entendre with the word "genes," suggesting it was winking at eugenics or white supremacy. In reality, most progressives weren't worked up much at all. (...) Criticism of the ad campaign had come almost entirely from a smattering of accounts with relatively few followers, according to an analysis of social media data by The New York Times. Conversation about the ad did not escalate online or in traditional media until days later, after right-leaning influencers, broadcasters and politicians began criticizing what they described as a wave of progressive outrage.
^Holland, Hannah (July 29, 2025)."Sydney Sweeney's ad shows an unbridled cultural shift toward whiteness".MSNBC. RetrievedSeptember 6, 2025.The backlash has been swift and fierce, and some of it, at least, if you ask me, is fair. The internet has been quick to condemn the advertisement as noninclusive at best and as overtly promoting "white supremacy" and "Nazi propaganda" at worst. (...) Together, the campaign feels regressive and not retro, offensive and not cheeky. The advertisement, the choice of Sweeney as the sole face in it and the internet's reaction reflect an unbridled cultural shift toward whiteness, conservatism and capitalist exploitation. Sweeney is both a symptom and a participant. (...) It isn't just that far-right ideology is proliferating on the fringe; our entire cultural ethos has moved further right, allowing for this sort of content.
^Mac Donnell, Chloe (August 1, 2025)."Born in the USA: Is American Eagle really using whiteness to sell jeans?".The Guardian.ISSN0261-3077. RetrievedAugust 7, 2025.According toSophie Gilbert, a staff writer at the Atlantic and author of the book Girl on Girl which explores how pop culture is shaped by misogyny: "The slogan 'Sydney Sweeney has good jeans' obviously winks at the obsession with eugenics that's so prevalent among the modern right." Dr Sarah Cefai, a senior lecturer in gender and cultural studies at Goldsmiths, University of London, agrees. "Honestly, what were they thinking, that a white supremacist fantasy has permission to be aired so conspicuously?"
^Andrew, Scottie; Asmelash, Leah; Kaur, Harmeet (August 2, 2025)."We asked experts to explain the Sydney Sweeney jeans drama".CNN. RetrievedAugust 3, 2025.Many felt that the ad was playing into this dark, not-very-concealed conversation about genetics in America. "This is intentional. This is pointed, and you're calling out to the consumers that you hope to attract here," said Cheryl Overton, a long-time brand strategist and communications executive. "If American Eagle is really out there trying to target Americans to the right or to the far right, so be it. If that's who the product is designed for now, that is their right as a company to do that. But you have to know that folks are educated, folks are nuanced, and folks are willing to call brands out."
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