Happy Sad Confused - Sydney Sweeney

Episode Date: March 22, 2024

It may seem like Sydney Sweeney just came out of nowhere in the last few years but she's been putting in the work for a long time. She talks about it all with Josh, from her humble beginnings in Spokane to SHARP OBJECTS to Emmy nominated turns in EUPHORIA and THE WHITE LOTUS and now with films she's helping create herself, ANYONE BUT YOU and IMMACULATE. Taped live at the 92nd Street Y in New York. SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! ZocDoc -- Go to ⁠⁠Zocdoc.com/HappySad⁠⁠ and download the Zocdoc app for FREE BetterHelp -- Visit ⁠BetterHelp.com/HSC ⁠today to get 10% off your first month UPCOMING LIVE EVENTS ⁠Merrily We Roll Along (Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff, and Lindsay Mendez) March 28th in NYC -- ⁠Get tickets here⁠ Tom Hiddleston April 11th in Los Angeles -- Get tickets here Cabaret (Eddie Redmayne and Gayle Rankin) May 20th in NYC -- ⁠Get tickets here⁠ Check out the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Happy Sad Confused patreon here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! We've got discount codes to live events, merch, early access, exclusive episodes of, video versions of the podcast, and more! To watch episodes of Happy Sad Confused, subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Josh's youtube channel here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

D.C. high volume, Batman. The Dark Nights definitive DC comic stories adapted directly for audio for the very first time. Fear, I have to make them afraid. He's got a motorcycle. Get after him or have you shot. What do you mean blow up the building? From this moment on,

none of you are safe. New episodes every Wednesday, wherever you get your podcasts. I love Cassie. Like Cassie truly is a dream to play. And as an actor, I'm so fortunate that I've had a character like her at such a young age. And of course, I want to keep living her crazy. I love it. Prepare your ears, humans. Happy, sad, confused begins now. Hey, New York. How's it going? Yes. I'm Josh Horowitz. And today on Happy Second. We are live at the 92nd Street, Why, with the woman of the moment. It's Sidney Sweeney in the house tonight, guys.

You ready? I feel like it's Sydney Sweeney's world right now. We're all just living in it. She is killing it. I mean, since Euphoria, what was it? Just five years ago, let's just run through Sydney, Sweeney's amazing career. Emmy nominated for Euphoria. Emmy nominated for The White Lotus.

Yes, you can cheer, yes. As you well know, she just killed it on S&L, amazing. She kind of proved that rom-coms belong on the big screen again with anyone but you. And now her second producing effort in a role, her passion project is about to drop. It will disturb you in the best possible way. Immaculate is the film, get ready, you think you're ready, you're not ready. Please give a warm New York welcome to the one and only Sidney, everybody. Here she is.

Thank you, guys. Welcome, Sid. Thanks for having me. It's so good to see you. Now, I don't want to get you, like, get your nerves up, but Sid does have... I'm already nervous. It's okay. I was going to say you have stage fright. I do.

You just hosted SNL. You're like everywhere. What are you talking about? No, it's a thing. It's a thing. How do you deal with it? You just have to do it. Does it, is it, is it, I've heard that you actually, like, on red carpets even will, like, manifest like a different personnel.

Like, you have like a persona that you adopt. Sometimes I have to. I'm like, okay, today we're Brittany. And what's Brittany like? Who knows? Yet on set. How are you on set? Is that just a totally different vibe?

Oh, I'm at home. I'm so comfy. I'm the happiest I could ever be. And was that from the start as soon as you, because you've been doing this a minute now? But you found, like, a home right there? It feels like my playground. I love it. So, okay, let's talk a little bit.

We're going to start with Immaculate, then we're going to talk a little bit about how you got to this amazing place. I tease the audience. This is a crazy movie, and you want a crazy horror movie every once in a while. And it is a passion project. You were in a much, much different part of your career when this first came around. You auditioned for this. How long ago?

I auditioned for it when I was 16. Yeah, ooh. Oh. And I remember sitting in the car with my mom. She drove me to the audition and were running the lines. And I was so nervous because I loved it so much. And I went into the audition and the casting assistant was there and they read with me. And I got my first call back.

I was so excited. I was so excited. But then it never happened. happened and the movie just disappeared and I just kept thinking about it like every year randomly I would dream up scenes I was on set of The Handmaid's Tale and thank you and I saw how active Elizabeth Moss was on set as a producer as a creative and I was so inspired but then I also started dreaming up how I'd want to shoot immaculate and I was like why am I thinking about Immaculate, like, nine, or how many? Four years later, it was crazy. So I emailed my

agents and I said, can you guys figure out if Immaculate ever got made? And I didn't. So I was like, I know this is crazy, but I want to make it myself. And I got a hold of a writer, Andrew LaBelle, and I just convinced him to let me take his script and turn it into, what you see now. I have to say it's amazing to me because so many people in your position, like when something like euphoria happens, like if you look at the last few years for you, you've

really steered the ship. Like you haven't, you could have ridden just like the wave and just taking the best parts that come and that's totally fine 99% of actors do that. But for whatever reason I mean, it's a great reason I guess, you wanted to have some control. And also I feel like I have to constantly prove

myself. I mean, I I've gone from sharp objects and handmade still in Euphoria and Light Lotus and all these incredible characters and all these incredible projects. But then, I mean, still people are like, eh, can she act? And I would imagine also, and we'll get to this, but part of it is also the struggle is underneath. Like, you went through years. You've been doing this a while. Yeah, I started when I was like 10, 11 years old. And it wasn't until Euphoria, and I was 21, that it was, like, actually more tangible.

And that must inspire you. like even though it's seemingly, oh, Sidney, can do kind of anything she wants now. You still remember it's palpable. You have to fight for the good roles. The roles that are challenging are creatively fulfilling are usually the ones that you have to fight for. Right.

Yeah. And this one, Immaculate actually, as much as you love the concept, a lot changed. So much changed. So setting changed, the age of the protagonist, Ocelia changed. Originally, it was set in a all-girls boarding school in Ireland. and when I got my hands on the script, I knew that I needed to update it

because I wasn't 16 anymore. And so started playing with ideas, and then I brought Dave Bernad, our producer on, who also produced by Lotus. And I then texted Michael Mohan, our director, who I worked with on Voyers and everything sucks. And I said, hey, do you want to do a horror film? And I said him the script,

and within 24 hours he sent me this incredible visual pitch deck. It's like 20, 30 pages of all of his ideas of how he would update the script, how he visually would shoot it, references, and it was exactly how I saw it in my mind. And he's the one who actually brought the ending as an idea. We'll tease that. We're not going to ruin it, don't worry.

But the ending, yeah. But talk to me a little bit about that, because that I find fascinating. So Michael Mohan, who was really instrumental in an early part of your career, That early show. Everything sucks. It was my first ever big roll on a TV show.

So the surrealness of it, the satisfaction of going back to a director that saw something in you early on and saying, hey, I've got a potential job for you. That must be amazing. Oh, I love it. You build such incredible relationships on set. And then after working together for like two, three, four months, you move on. and you hope that you get to see these people again. And I've been so lucky to be able to do now three projects with Mike. And he also uses a lot of the same keys.

So, like, our DP, Elijah Christian, he was also, everything sucks. And also Voyers, our production designer, Adam Reamer. Like, he uses the same team. And Mike and Elijah were college roommates. And I'm a very loyal person, too. I think it's super important in this industry. So I feel like I had my family. around me.

When you kind of allude to this, I think one of the things that people, I appreciate at horror, is when done right, like, you can really lean in and, like, pay great attention to detail, the sumptuous design of this, the setting. It feels like you can kind of like do like, you know, down and dirty horror, or you can do kind of like this like really gorgeous, kind of a throwback more of the 70s. A lot of Mike's references were 70 infused. Yeah. And you've seen this, I assume, by now with some audiences.

It must be such a satisfying feeling because this is an audience movie. It's amazing. We premiered it at South by South West and it was so exciting feeling everybody's just their excitement in the room when they screamed and then they started laughing at themselves because they were screaming. They were cheering. It was great. A slightly different wardrobe than you've had for other films in this one. Just a little.

So what is that, I mean that must put you into a different mindset immediately? mindset immediately. It does. It actually, I love whenever a character has a transformative experience through her clothing. And for Cecilia, putting on the garments, like it definitely, definitely switched me over. I love that as a producer, you used your power for good by employing some of your family members in the film. I did, I did. Who's in the movie? My grandmas. Yeah, my grandmas, they're so sweet. So what's cool, my nana, so that's my dad's mom, is actually an extra in every single one

of myconized projects together. And then I brought my grandie, too. I have fun names for them. But it was their dream to go to Italy, and their dream to, they've never really gone to Europe before. So for Christmas, I surprised them, and I told them that they're going to come to Italy and see me at work, and I got them.

In this nice, sweet movie. Yeah, oh no, you guys, I didn't tell them what the movie was. You have a history of this, though, I feel like. When Euphoria premiered, no one really knew what they were getting into, right? I grew up in a smaller town, so movies and TV shows aren't really, they're the main thing, they're outside. Sure. So they don't know what I'm doing. And I brought my grandma's to the premiere last week.

And my grandee, literally, she leans over. And she looks at me in the aisle, and she goes, oh, my God, Sydney. So that was great. I love it. I love it. And I know horror, like, this genre is important coming to your dad, right, growing up? It does. My dad loves horror films.

So has he reviewed it? Has he seen it yet? He did. He saw it that night, too. So what, what, you don't come from a family of Shobah's family, to say the least. No, so far removed. So what do they, how are they with the fame thing? Have they embarrassed you at parties?

Have they gone up to celebrities? They have no idea. They don't care. My parents don't have social media. They just kind of have, like, no clue. My dad will randomly call me. I had to teach him how to put his phone on, do not disturb. And he gets, like, a hundred calls while he's sleeping.

And he was like, they're asking for you. Should I give him your number? I'm like, no, dad, no. He has zero clue. Do any family members try to steer you in like any kind of career direction? Are they like, you know, it'd be good to do like a Pixar movie or do like a something without blood or sex maybe in the next one? No? No?

No, they do question like, so what's your next one? Can we watch it? Right. How awkward will the next one be for me to watch? Yeah, yeah. So what are your now being a horror aficionado having made a great heart? movie in your own right, what are the things you love or don't love in horror? Like, where do your tastes run?

Ooh, like a jump scare. Yeah, I love, I love a little bit of everything, but the one thing that I, it's not that I don't like, but I enjoy the most is when you, it's the fear of the unknown. Like when someone is walking down a hallway and you're just absolutely terrified of anything that could jump at any moment, I sometimes don't like showing. what the character might be scared of. Yeah, it's the anticipation. Okay, let's tease around the ending without saying the ending.

Okay. It's an intense ending, guys. And you delivered an amazing performance throughout, but especially the ending is like an acting feat. Thank you. What went into it can, again, this is cruel, I know, but like it was a taxing scene, to say the least, yes? Yeah.

Okay. If you guys, when you guys see it, you guys all better go see it. We're all going to reassemble a week from today and we're going to talk it through. Yes. So, how do I, so. We can say it involves blood.

It involves a lot of blood. And that was the first take that you see. So it's one long take. I want to say it's like, two and a half minutes maybe. And we set up the cameras. We were in a rush that day. And we just blocked out where I'd start, go, come back.

And Mike, our director was like, do you want to rehearse it? Do you want to go through anything? And I was like, no, let's just see what happens. And then what you guys see is what happened. Is it true? I read somewhere that some blood got in your eye and you were just like keep going, basically.

So that is journalists that get things wrong. Huh? What? That's the record straight. That is the scene prior when blood gets like, how do I say things about? Yeah, but then during that, I just knew what the reset time would be. So I was like, we don't have time for this.

I'm just going to keep going. And I remember yelling at Mike. I was like, don't fucking stop. I love there was like, you posted, I think, like a little video in your storage the other day of you in like full blood drain. benched makeup, but kind of out of character. Like, you can turn it on and off. Like, you're not, like, that person that just stays in it.

No, it's, I like to separate myself from my characters as much as possible. So when they call action, Sidney's gone, and then when they call cut, I'm back. This is probably good for the psyche, the mental well-being. I know, but I was having press the other day, and the journalist was like, you know what this is called, right? I said, what? It was possession. Oh, man. Oh, something to think about.

I'm Amy Nicholson, the film critic for the LA Times. And I'm Paul Shear, an actor, writer, and director. You might know me from The League, Veep, or my non-eligible for Academy Award role in Twisters. We come together to host Unspool, a podcast where we talk about good movies, critical hits. Fan favorites, must-season, and case you missed them. We're talking Parasite the Home Alone.

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call us let's go back let's go back a little bit so growing up as I alluded to Spokane no showbiz in the family how did your parents know this wasn't just a phase

like this wasn't going to be like acting one week gymnastics the next This is for real. This was like... Soccer. Sorry. No, literally, I was on a soccer team. I was on a snowsky team.

I wakeboarded. I was on a softball team. I was on every sport you could think of. I loved it. And... What position? Soccer. I was forward.

Of course. But there was something different about the passion for acting. They saw that. You felt that? Yeah. I just had a crazy imagination. Yeah. I would build imaginary worlds and characters and I would put on little performances for my grandparents and my parents growing up.

And they thought that it was like wanting to be a princess. They were like, this is not real, she'll grow out of it. And then this really small indie movie came to town and I found out about it. And so I put together a five-year business plan presentation at 10 years old of what could happen if they let me audition for this. movie because they weren't taking me seriously. So I was like, I'm going to talk to these people like adults. So there are two young actors that I know that I've talked to over the years that have basically taken that tactic. And the PowerPoint at a very young age, you and Emma Stone.

Emma Stone did that too. Do you know that story? No. Yeah. You're in good company. Oh my God. I love Emma Stone. She did the whole PowerPoint. How did you even know how to do PowerPoint at 10? Because my dad would do a lot of them. My dad was a pharmaceutical rep. And so he put together little things and my mom would help them so it's not an overnight success story after that though as we alluded to no it took 10 years but and i've heard you talk about this it's a long trip from spokane to L.A it's a very long trip it's 18 19 hours in the car yeah so when you think about that I mean it's it's kind of moving to it's more than kind of it's very moving to think of like the family sacrifice and kind of doubling down on your passion to say yeah it's incredible like

I am so grateful for my parents because they truly did sacrifice so much, and they believed in me before anyone else believed in me. And I owe everything to them. I would not be able to do any of this without their support of just... I mean, you guys, they would drive me after school. I would get out of school, and then we'd get in the car and drive all the way to L.A., sleep in the car. go to an audition and then drive all the way back so I can make school the next day.

And, like, that's some amazing parents. And what were, what was your life like back at school? Because these years are going by, and they see you going back and forth. That was hard. Right? Because you're not, they're not seeing all, I mean, they're seeing these little spots, but you're probably, I mean, that must hurt your pride and everything. It was, well, when you're, I mean, it was so young, and you're already dealing with growing up and being awkward.

And when you leave a small town and you're doing something new and different, a lot of people don't understand that. And so I found that I dealt with a lot of bullying, but it came from the parents as well. And like the parents talking to the kids and like not understanding like how dare they like leave this town. how, like, how could they uproot their family like this? And so that was really hard to deal with. And I ended up, like, after a year and a half of going back and forth and trying to stay in school back home, my mom ended up pulling me out and homeschooling because it just, it got really bad.

What was, like, what was the dream role at 12, at 15, at 17? Like, what were you shooting for? What were you dreaming of at those ages? Crazy roles. No, like, silence of the land. like what the shining but I wanted like I wanted to be the monster like I was dreaming of crazy characters wow okay so it's inevitable this was this was a long time coming sharp objects was a big one correct it was this was for those that don't remember

this is Amy Adams this is the late great Jean-Marc valet who also did Big Little Liars a lot of great movies and I've heard so many actors just like love working with me. He was incredible. So is that a game changer to work with a, not only a great director, but a director that, you know, it sounds cliche, but it's true, sees you. Like, sees what you. Completely. No. Jean-Marc, he, he was so influential in my entire life and my career because it started from just the audition process. Like, Jean-Marc is so, he was so thoughtful and caring towards his actors. And you can always tell that by, like, the casting process and the casting director that he likes to use, his name is David, and he was one of

the first people who actually, like, did the audition with me. I mean, I've been in so many auditions where they wouldn't look up. They were eating chips while I was doing my audition. They'd answer a phone call in the middle of it, and I just never felt like anybody cared when I walked in a room. and he actually like did the scene with me had his lines memorized, had props and I felt like I was, even though it was an audition I was in this dream that I always had of being an actor and I got to actually be that character

and then I got a call back and I got to meet Jean-Marc and he was the exact same way and he just like he would sit with you and want to work on the scene with you and it wasn't like he was sitting behind a table and taking notes, like he would come and sit right here and start talking about the character

and the lines and the scenes. And I remember walking out of that callback, and I called my mom, and I was like, even if I don't get this, this was everything for me. Like, this was the first time that I actually felt like, this is my dream.

Like, these are the people I want to work with. And I ended up getting it, and it was just, like, two episodes. But I loved being on, that's so much that Jean-Marc ended up putting me in every episode. And even it was just like a flash just so I could come and be on set and learn because I would sit at Video Village and his producing partner, Nathan Ross, who I work with now, they were so welcoming.

And I would sit in during their lunch production meetings and just learn as much as I possibly could. It was amazing. Well, he must have been hardened to see. I mean, he was with us. I'm sure when Euphoria had come around. to see like somebody took a shot on to bear that fruit. That's amazing. He's incredible.

And look, now we're getting into like the really good stuff and like it gets, it's just amazing to see what happens in the last five years. You pop up in Quentin Tarantinas once upon a time in Hollywood, one of the all-time classics for, I mean, truly. That was crazy. Crazy. And talk about a fascinating experience. I mean, the stories of how Quentin runs his sets are infamous, no cell phones. Cell phones. No cell phones.

He just loves it. He lives and breathes movies. You're in that world completely. So you're sharing space with Marka Kuali, but you're also sharing space with Brad Pitt. And you're on the Spawn Ranch. You're in that sequence. Again, where are the nerves on those days? When I'm on set, there's no nerves.

Yeah. I'm so free and happy. I love it. So, and when you, yeah, that's, I guess, living the dream because you're like, you're... Yeah, because that's what I dreamt up. When I was little, I had no idea any of this came along with acting. Like, zero clue. I didn't have a phone until I was 13, 14.

Social media wasn't really an important thing. To me, the dream was being on set and playing all these characters. Honestly, if someone told me that I'd be on stages, talk shows, speaking, I'd be like, oh, I don't know if this is for me. This is for me. What are the do's and don'ts for you in social media at this point? Because you've been through it like any young actor. Like, it's rough out there to say the least. Yeah.

You talk about bullying. I mean, you've been through it. How do you stay sane, stay safe, feel like you're in control on social media? I just, I mix up what I put out there. Like, of course, I want to share the work that I'm doing because that's what I'm really passionate about. But then I like to sprinkle in a little bit of Sid here and there so that people can see me. As much as you guys can. It's hard. It's all hard. Well, so then we get, of course, to Euphoria, which totally changes the game. Was it just another audition or did it feel like,

was there a buzz around what Euphoria could be by the time it came around to you, or was it just like another next, let's see what happens, kind of a thing? No, you know, it was, no, it was. No, you know, it was no one really knew what it was going to be and I didn't even get to go into the room like I couldn't get into the room to audition so I put myself on tape and sent it in and then I booked it off the tape

there's so much more about like how that set is and how Sam runs the set and like what the nature of it it's like I feel like there's a lot of mystique around it what would you say is different and unique about euphoria compared to the other sets that you've been on? What makes it special? There's a lot of reasons that it's special. I mean, we're doing and playing characters that have meant so much to people. And it's the longest production that I've ever been on

because each season takes like eight to ten months to film. So I'm getting to be with this group of people for a longer amount of time that I'm used to and actually build relationships and have almost like a family in a way. Like Maude and I are best friends. She feels like my actual sister. And I'm so thankful to be able to have something like that in this industry. It must be so amazing to go through something like that with Maude. And I know we were talking about like musical theater the other day. She's doing cabaret and little shop here she did. I flew to London and I watched her and I came here and I watched her do Little Shop of Horace. I was so proud of her. But it must be exciting to see like where everybody, like Zendaya was

already doing amazing things. But to see like Jacob Alorty like saltburn was the thing for a few months, like, obsessed by everybody. Did you see saltburn? Of course. I was going to ask a funny question, and then I decided not to. Oh, wow. Restraint. Yeah. Saltburn, another one that sticks with you, just like immaculate. Yeah. Maybe for different reasons. Different reasons. Dot, dot, dot. But yeah, to go through, like, with peers and to sort of see what everybody has been doing. I'm just so proud of it. everybody. Everybody's living their dreams and they're working really hard. You've been through two seasons on Euphoria. Do you feel like you

also, the collaborative nature of that production, have been able to kind of suggest things for Cassie that you do or don't want to see or you do kind of feel you'll leave yourself to Sam's writing? It's a bit of both. I mean, I think that we've all lived with our characters for so long. So we have a bit more of an agency behind. We feel like maybe she'll say this, but it's truly just like a collaboration the entire way.

I had a few choices on clips. Forgive me. I went with an obvious one. I'm going with the meltdown. I'm going with the bathroom scene. Oh, Euphoria? Yeah. Ready?

How many times have you seen this clip? I don't know. Oh, okay. You don't have to watch it. We'll watch it. Okay. Here's a clip from Euphoria. Cassie in action.

I'm never going to be able to live that down. I mean, iconic, truly. Do you remember what it was like? You didn't know at the time what that was going to be. No, you guys, that was the first day, first scene back for season two. Do you feel like out on a whim when you're doing a scene like that? Like, oh my God. You fully just have to go for it.

You have to trust everybody around you and just whatever happens happens. A lot happened. When I remember watching it back, I was watching it live with all of you. I was like, when did I do that? Oh my God! You blacked out, it never happened. And you've seen, obviously, it's been memed to death. Brian Cox recreated it.

I know. He did a pretty good job. It's pretty good. Not, I mean, obviously, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I didn't mean. There's only one, Cassie. I know you can't say anything, but the hope, it's been a while. The hope, it's been a while. It's been a minute since you guys have been on set shooting.

Like, the fans have been concerned, because there have been rumors like, is it even going to ever come back? Have you as an actor ever had that concern? Like, are we coming back? Are we doing more euphoria? It's a curious time to get thirsty. What just happens? Are you anxious and excited? It's been, what, probably three years since you've been on set. Wow. Yeah. How much anticipation from a scale of 1 to 10 do you feel about getting back on set to play Cassie again? What just happened? You were talking to. We were having fun.

I know. I know. Honestly, it's like as scary as talking about Marvel, guys. I said about Madam Webb instead. I said one thing and then it like went everywhere. Okay, fair enough. Well, we're excited. I'm excited too. I love Cassie. Like Cassie truly is a dream to play. And as an actor, I'm so fortunate that I've had a character like her at such a young age. And, of course, I want to keep living her crazy. I love it. Have you been continually writing in the, we haven't even mentioned, like, these books that you

create to, like, really get into character, these, like, exhaustive background books that you truly write. So are you continually adding to Cassie, even in, like, the downtime? Or are you... No, I wait to see what happens. And then I'm like, all right, how did she get there? Goodbye summer movies, hello fall. I'm Anthony Devaney.

And I'm his twin brother, James. We host Raiders of the Lost Podcast, the Ultimate Movie Podcast, and we are ecstatic to break down late summer and early fall releases. We have Leonardo DiCaprio leading a revolution in one battle after another, Timothy Salome playing power ping pong in Marty Supreme. Let's not forget Emma Stone and Jorgos Lanham. Moses, Bagonia, Dwayne Johnson, he's coming for that Oscar in The Smashing Machine, Spike Lee and Denzel teaming up again, plus Daniel DeLuis's return from retirement. There will be plenty of blockbusters to chat about, too.

Tron Aries looks exceptional, plus Mortal Kombat 2, and Edgar writes, The Running Man, starring Glenn Powell. Search for Raiders of the Lost podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube. It's ticklish business anyway. You look at it. Come on, we'll stick together. Love movies, love classic movies, so do we. Tick Bush Business is the podcast where classic film is discussed in modern times. Hosted by me, film journalist Kristen Lopez, and my co-host, author Emily Edwards,

we dive into the golden age of cinema with fun, heart, and serious expertise. As published film historians and lifelong classic movie buffs, we bring insider insights, deep research, and lively debates with a variety of special guests, ranging from celebrities like Holly Madison to TCM luminaries Dave Carger and Eddie Muller, and even family members of Old Hollywood Legends. Subscribe now to ticklish business on your favorite podcast app, and let's talk about Old Hollywood today. Okay, it's official.

We are very much in the final sprint to election day. And face it, between debates, polling releases, even court appearances. It can feel exhausting, even impossible to keep up with. I'm Brad Milkey. I'm the host of Start Here, the Daily Podcast from ABC News, And every morning my team and I get you caught up on the day's news in a quick, straightforward way that's easy to understand with just enough context so you can listen, get it, and go on with your day. So, kickstart your morning. Start Smart with Start Here and ABC News, because staying informed shouldn't feel overwhelming. Oh my God, time's flying by. Let's mention a few other amazing things.

Of course, White Lotus. Yes. Just so you know, every gig does not become a giant pop culture phenomenon. This is unusual, Sidney. This is weird. This is weird. I mean, that experience, again, Mike White, for those in the know, like, he's always been an amazing writer.

He is incredible. Fascinating. But it also came at a very strange, unique time. Did making White Lotus in the thick of the pandemic kind of save you, kind of help you kind of like get through that crazy time? Yeah, I mean, I'm a workaholic, so I was just so fortunate to be able to have work during such a hard time, but it was honestly a dream. Like being able to work with Mike White and Jennifer Coolidge and Connie Britton,

everybody that was involved in the project, and be in Hawaii. And I was like, this is really nice. You said the character scared you. Do you mean the character itself or playing the character? character itself. I mean, Olivia's terrifying. I muddled her off of a lot of people I'm scared of in life. But again,

that must have just caught you off guard to see how that... I mean, shows like that don't generally become phenomenons, but it, for whatever reason, truly click. I guess it's the specificity of his writing. He writes really human, relatable, odd characters. Mike's very in touch

with people and society, and... He's just smart. He's a smart writer. more smart writing and this is a swerve to work on something like reality must have been so satisfying I don't know if you guys have checked out reality

if you haven't you really should this is an amazing performance reality winner this woman who is this is essentially a transcript it is it's the actual transcript from the FBI interrogation when two FBI agents

go to reality winner's house and it's the real, like the actual transcript. All of our dialogue is pulled from that. So talk about, like, you know, you go from sets where it's, you know, a bit collaborative, et cetera, and then you're 16 days, tons of dialogue. Does that be like achievement unlocked?

Like, I can work within these kind of tight confines and still find my way into a character. It was a huge challenge for me. Yeah. I think reality is one of the most, like, like, when I say I like to do characters that scare me, and it's because that means it's going to be a challenge. It's going to challenge me as an artist in new ways, and that is what I should be doing. So reality scared me because I'd never done anything like that before.

We were filming like 20 pages a day, and it's just pure dialogue, and I had to make sure I had every single word correct, and everything was so close and tight, and I was telling someone's true story, and so I felt the weight of that. And it was a lot. It was a different type of process than I've ever had before. But it turned out.

I'm very proud of it. No, you should be. And again, these swerves are amazing. But, like, you know, it's underestimated how tough it is to lead a romantic comedy. But anyone but you just is so satisfying and fun. And must feel you produced this one as well. So this is, again, you hire the director, you get Glenn involved. Like, Cindy really made this one happen.

Thank you. Why, again, was that just the challenge of it? You grew up with these films and, like, why aren't they being put on the big screen anymore? I love rom-coms. I'm like, I'm such a sap for love. And I was missing, like, those early... Oh. Hi.

Oh, my God, hi. Hi. Um, I, I, I love like early 2000 rom-coms, like the ones that they felt so big and they made you want to fall in love after watching it. And I just didn't know why people weren't really making big rom-coms anymore. And I have to, they are. And I have to thank Will because Will, our director, once, uh, once I brought him on, he brought in a few ideas that really made, the rom-com feel bigger and he had like

the helicopter ideas and we changed it from Italy to Australia because of him and I have to thank him for a lot of that. This is kind of like an insider businessy thing but like the movie opened and the first weekend it opened in fourth place and it didn't

make a ton of money cut to $215 million and growing still at the box office like this is a very unusual circumstance. But I have to thank you guys for that because none of that would be possible without the fans, the audience, and people showing up to theaters and actually showing people what they want to see. And I think that it's really important to show the industry and also show critics that you guys like stuff

that they might not like. Yeah. First, as much as the box office and movies are dominated by sequels that rom-coms don't often get sequels but people want to see you and glen together again and i know you guys are talking do you is your is your gut say it's a sequel that it's the same characters or you just you and glen in a different rom-com we don't know yet i mean is that part of the debate right now kind of like there's so much discussion around all of it yeah i would imagine again 215 million dollars makes people anxious to yeah there's just a few people that want to do some movies together. Yeah, yeah.

What is, on a different side, and they all can't make ginormous gobs of money, what is the warning of something like Madam Webb, which you're not a producer on and not, you know. Thank you. There you go. Love for everything. It's all good.

But what do you take? Wait, what? There you go. Okay. They should use that in some quotes. Yeah. Put it on the DVD. What's a...

What is the learning of an experience like that? What's the learning of the experience? Yeah, what do you take away from that? Well, I want to like point out in the timeline of projects and explain a few things. So, don't laugh at that. Guys, come on. Madam Webb is my first ever studio project, studio film that I ever got cast in. And I am so thankful to Sony because it was such a building block for me.

And while I was filming that, I was actually building the packages for both Immaculate and Anyone But You. And I then took Anyone But You out once I put the whole package together and put the pitch together. And I called up Sony, and I said, hey, I have this movie. We're filming together. Let's build a relationship. And that's how anyone but you got made. And I would never have been able to do that without Madam Webb. Yeah.

And look, to be honest, there's... And also, my cousins could watch the movie. I get it. On paper, no problem. All good. It happens. It's just, I mean, and this is the difference, honestly, between being an actor for hire, as you've mentioned, and having some skin in the game. Yeah, and it's so hard not being able to, like, be fully involved. But I was an actor, yeah. Yeah. Well, Sony likes you, fair to say at this point. They're happy with you. Talk to me a little bit about, like, what do you get offered?

You're obviously willing a lot of these things into existence yourself. You have a, this production company is just, and these are only the ones that have been produced. I know you're, you've got a lot of things in development. I do. I have a lot. So is there a typical role you get? Do you kind of roll your eyes at like a certain type of character you're getting? Or are you getting interesting material? It's interesting. It comes in waves of whatever project is coming out. So there's a lot of rom-coms.

There's a lot of dramas. But I always find that the ones that I want are not the ones I'm getting offered. They're the ones that I have to fight for. And they're the ones that I have to either make myself. Well, again, to your point, like you're zigging in. and zagging everywhere. So if they're only going to offer you what you just did, you're never going to do two in a row.

Yeah, it's not fun at all. You have some really cool things that you just shot, actually. So you worked with Ron Howard. I did. That's the most recent one, right? I was the most recent one. I went back to Australia, and I got to work with him and Jude Law and Anna De Amas and Daniel Brill and Vanessa Kirby.

Such an amazing cast. I was pinching myself the entire time. I can't really say much about it It's based on a true story It's crazy But it's a very different character than I've ever played And that's what I love I love finding characters that throw you guys off

It's like, wait, what, that's her? I mean, talk about different kind of characters Are you still developing Barbarella? Is Barbarella something that you want to do? It is. I mean, that's a big swing. That movie, for those that have never seen the original, like, iconic.

Have to. It's so good. It's wild. It's so campy. So what do you see in that that excites you? Because you're obviously going to have to get a different spin. The gender politics are going to be way different, obviously, where we're at today. But what are the seeds of that that made you so excited to try and develop this into a new film? I mean, Barbara L is just such a fun character to explore. Like, she really just embraces her femininity and her sexuality, and I love that.

I love that. Like, she uses sex as a weapon, and I think it's just such an interesting way into a sci-fi world, and I've always wanted to do sci-fi. So we'll see what happens. One director that's been mentioned for that is one of my favorites, and you were just photographed with him, I think, at a premiere, Edgar Wright. Is he someone you'd like to see direct Barbarrella? Is he the one? Oh, she's thirsty again. What just happened? You're parched. Are you Okay? Actually, yeah, I was really thirsty there. So no director yet, but Edgar's become an acquaintance?

Mm-hmm. Okay. Fair enough. Let's do some questions from the audience. Let's see. We covered this a little bit, but let's see if we can find a new spin-in. This is from Sarah. What made you so interested about this story, namely Immaculate,

that made you want to produce it years after originally auditioning for it? Why do you think it's kept sticking with you all these years? I think because a lot of the fear and the terror and the horror comes from a place of realism where in a lot of films you're trying to run away from something and you can escape it, where Cecilia, one, she is trapped in this convent, but then also the thing that terrifies her the most and the thing that's torturing her the most is growing inside her. and so she can't outrun it. This is from Kayla.

What was the hardest part of filming this movie compared to your other movies? The hardest part? Is it the physical aspect? I mean, she goes going quite the emotional journey in this, clearly. Yeah, but that stuff's fun. The hard stuff is when you're like cold and hungry. Yeah, that makes sense.

Yeah. This is a good answer. Matt wants to know what's been the most fulfilling thing about creating your own production company. I mean, especially now that these things are actually coming out, it must be to see... Yeah, seeing everybody's reactions to the projects, but then also the relationships that I'm building, I'm getting to learn so much more about this industry, and it's not just, like, my fellow actors. Like, I am understanding and gaining respect for all aspects, the grip, the, like, transpo, like everybody that has a part of making a project come to fruition because it's not

possible with everybody. Like you have to have, you have to have every single crew member like there and happy and working hard. And so I just respect so much of what they do. And I love being able to learn and just build those relationships. I know an important part about, especially the euphoria experience has been how it's connected with young audiences, right? And like the reaction you get from folks like these are on the street must be amazing. And I've heard you also say, like any actor, you don't like necessarily enjoy being compared to other actors, right? And then the irony is, of course, so many young people probably compare themselves to you

because you are now such a, you know, big force in the entertainment they see. That's crazy. I mean, what do you, it's real. I mean, like, what would you say to somebody that compares themselves to you, that it sees you as someone they aspire to be. Everybody is on their own journey. And you don't want to compare your path to anybody else because I have this thing where I've always said

that I look up to the older version of myself. So I'm hoping that the decisions that I'm making now make 40-year-old Sydney proud and happy. And I've always thought that that's like really important because I'm not doing this for, I'm not trying to like follow any other person's path. I'm like, I'm hoping that whatever I do can fulfill me as much as possible and then spread as much good too. Excellent. Okay, we're going to end on a much more frivolous note with the happy, sick, infused profoundly random questions. Okay. You ready? Yeah. Dogs, your cats,

Sydney. Dogs. Big dog dog dad and my little brother were allergic to cats, so I didn't really grow up with cats. Tell me about Tank. Is Tank the dog? Thanks, my best friend. What kind of dog is... I rescued a tank when I was 17. I brought her home, and my parents got really mad. But now my mom wants her all the time, so

she is my everything. She's truly just... She's made my life so much better. What do you collect, if anything? I collect tiles. So, like, hand-pain. He's so confused. You guys are all confused. Just me.

Everyone's confused when, so whenever I travel, I like to try and find hand-painted tiles of whatever city I'm in because I want to collect them and make, like, a big, huge wall. And so at the end of wherever I am, whatever country I'm in, I was like, okay, we got to find a tile. And it's the hardest thing to find, which I like, because it's a challenge. Sydney likes challenges.

Harry Potter or The Rings? Harry Potter. You grew up Harry Potter. I grew up with Harry Potter, so I feel like that's my generation. Books are the films, both? Both, but the films were just so good. My brother would carry around, like, every book to dinner and read them all at the same time.

He'd have, like, three books, and he'd read one page and one, flip it next page in the other, and I was like, what are you doing? That's one way to do it. I think I know the answer to this. Would you ever skydive? Yes, of course. So for my 18th birthday, I got my mom and I, I saved up a lot of my money, and I got a skydiving. But then I booked sharp objects, and in the freaking thing that you have to sign,

that you're not allowed to skydive. And so I've never skydive because I haven't, like, not signed one of those papers. every year since then. You have to stop working for a minute and then you can risk your life. Yeah. All right. Still things to do.

Last actor you were mistaken for? Last what? Actor you were mistaken for. Ow! That's one response. Ow? I don't know. I get a lot of...

You look a lot like the girl from Euphoria and I'm like, really? Huh. I hear she's good. That bitch Not that there's anything annoying about you But what would friends and family say Is the most annoying thing about Sydney Sweetie

Probably that I am such a workaholic That I don't slow down And I need to I need to take time to be with my friends, my family But I love what I do I love it so much What's your go-to karaoke song? Someone said unwritten, of course.

That's the politically correct answer. This is going to be so funny. Creep by Radiohead. Sure? Wow. You want to do it acapella right now? No, I do not. You commit, I bet.

I'm not saying you have to do it now, but you commit in karaoke, like everything else, right? Yeah. What's the worst noted director has ever given you? You don't have to name names, just... Or you can name names, actually. Pass. Oh, okay. In the spirit of Happy, Say I Confused, an actor that always makes you happy.

You see them on screen. I'm in for a good time. The Property Brothers. I love HGTV. Some of our finest Thespians, the Property Brothers. The Property Brothers. Are they considered actors? I mean, they're probably in SAG.

Right. To the letter of the law, sure. A movie that makes you sad. Titanic. But then also makes me want to fall in love. Was that your idea to get that into anyone but you? That must have been a moment. I was like, Will, I love Titanic so much.

We got to get it in there. Yeah. And he put it in there for me. And I was so happy and so excited. But Joe's line of when we go over and he goes, oh, it looks like they went full Titanic. That was all Joe. He's so funny.

He's so hilarious. Well, your buddy from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, I'm sure Leo, did Leo text you afterwards like you did it? You killed it? No. I was going to make a joke, but I can't. Can't even. Can't even.

I mean, there's still some actors. There's the ones we grew up with that are still like, how can I share space with that human being, I suppose, right? And finally, food that makes you confused. Food that makes me confused. Yeah, you don't get it. What's up with that? I don't, I've never thought about. What food don't you like?

What's your, like, Achilles heel? Well, I'm not the healthiest of eaters. Okay. So, like, I had pasta earlier. I'm going to go eat some burgers after this. Nice. probably some ice cream yeah some burgers

um yeah like eat ice cream all the time cookies so anything that's not gonna help your life in any way yeah I'm with you I support yeah I just be happy

you what makes you feel good there you go words of wisdom from the great city Sweeney everybody um no truly I mean, look, if the last five years are any indication of what the next 5, 10, 15, 20, and beyond are, weren't for a lot of great material. What is the next 5 or 10 year plan?

Have you written it out? Is there a PowerPoint? Oh, I'll send it to you once I get it done. Okay, fair enough. Check out Immaculate. It's fantastic. She always kills it. Give it up one more time.

Thank you. For Sydney, Sweeney, everybody. Thank you. And so ends another edition of happy, sad, confused. Remember to review, rate, and subscribe to this show on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm a big podcast person. I'm Daisy Ridley, and I definitely wasn't pressured to do this by Josh. This message comes from BetterHelp.

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