Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist - Sydney Sweeney

Episode Date: June 4, 2023

On this week's episode, Willie sits down with one of the brightest young stars in Hollywood, Sydney Sweeney. They talk about her breakout roles on "Euphoria" and "The White Lotus", and her new movie role getting rave reviews from critics. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey guys, Willie Geist here with another episode of the Sunday Sit Down podcast. My thanks as always for clicking and listening along. Very excited to bring you my conversation this week with one of the brightest young stars in Hollywood, Sidney Sweeney. Maybe you know her and love her as Cassie on the hit HBO series, Euphoria, over the last couple of seasons with another one on the way. Maybe you love her in the first season of The White Lotus. Perhaps you go back a little further to shows like sharp objects and handmade

tale. It's been an incredible five years or so for Sweeney on a run that she kind of saw coming, as she says very humbly, when she was about 10 or 11 years old. She wrote a five-year business plan growing up outside of Spokane, Washington, explaining to her parents how it was going to go down, how she was going to break in somehow from this little town she grew up in into Hollywood and become the actress that she is today. It took a little convincing, but when a low-budget movie came to her town. She auditioned, got a part. Her parents thought, oh, that's the end of it. She got her dream. No. Then they found themselves soon after making the 20-hour round trip driving down to L.A. for auditions. It didn't take five years. It took about 10, but Sidney pulled it off.

She's now in a new film called Reality, which is the true story of the real-life National Security Agency contractor, Reality Winner, who was convicted. and set to jail on charges of stealing classified documents from her workplace and bringing them home. She called herself a whistleblower. The government had another view of it. The interesting thing about this film, which is getting a lot of critical acclaim for Sweeney, is that it is the verbatim text, the dialogue with no additions, nothing added, of a FBI transcript of when a couple of agents arrived at reality winner's house in Georgia, knocked on the door and started talking to her. It was all recorded, of course, over several hours. And the movie is the transcript. That's a hard

thing to pull off and to make interesting and good, but they really do it. So a great conversation with Sidney, I should point out, as we sat in this little restaurant in New York City, we realized we both were fans and something of aficionados, her more than me, frankly, of the Ford Bronco. I've got one. She's got one. The difference is, Hers is probably a lot nicer. Also, she rebuilt hers by yourself, like built the engine and replaced the brakes and did all the work herself. I had a little help, I have to confess. So a lot of talk about her career, her rise, how she's doing with fame right now, and also a lot about Ford Broncos.

Sidney, right now on the Sunday Sit Down podcast. It's so nice to meet you, Sydney. Thanks for doing this. Thank you for having me. I feel like we've already covered a lot of ground, but we kind of did. Yeah. mostly about your Ford Bronco. Yes, and I love your Bronco, too.

So you've got a 1969. I do. I've got a 1975. And as I said to you, the difference is I sort of just acquired mine. You rebuilt yours. I did. You did the transmission and the brakes and everything else? Suspension, worked on the engine, the entire interior, all of it.

How long have you been in gearhead? I mean, I've always loved cars, but I was finally able to actually get into it about three years ago. It's so cool. Aren't the Broncos great too? I love them. The resurgence now. I've always loved them and now they're cool. They're super cool. I just got the brand new Bronco, the limited heritage which is true. You've got you covering all the Ford bases here from 1969 to 2023. Well, I could talk all day about the Fort Bronco, but let's talk about reality, which is just an amazing performance by you, especially when you consider that this is a film based verbatim on an FBI transcript. There's no dramatization, you didn't flower it up or do anything different. So when you heard the idea for this,

did you say, how are we going to pull that off exactly? I was a little scared because I've never done something where I had to take someone's dialogue verbatim and make sure that I was honoring it. I usually have so much freedom with my characters and I really wanted to make sure that I was doing justice to reality story and not changing anything and just making sure that we really amplified this moment in her life. Were there moments where you said, hey, can I just add a little flourish here or ad lib something?

No, because Josh Hamilton, he was so incredible with what he did. He sneezed when the transcript said that his FBI agent sneezed. And I was like, oh my gosh, we're going really into this. So I wanted to make sure that I read lines endlessly every night.

Well, it does, I mean, it feels like a drama, and then it kind of turns a corner and becomes a little bit of a thrill. and you don't know what's going to happen next. And again, I actually looked it up. I was like, yeah, this is word for word in exchange with Reality Winner and some FBI agents. So for people who may not know or may have forgotten the story of Reality winner, who is she exactly?

And what did you see in her that made you say? This is a compelling story I want to play. Reality winner, Leight Classified Documents. And she got charged with five years of Espinash, which is one of the longest sentences. I was blown away by how complex she was and how many contradicting layers there were to her character. And I really wanted to be able to dive into all of these thoughts and this crazy navigation of trying to figure out

this situation that she was in. I mean, it's such a fascinating story. And I loved how humanizing it was. When you say she's complicated, She pled guilty to the charges. She served some time in prison. But there is, as you say, something sympathetic about her. What did you sympathize with when you read her story?

I sympathize that she was a 25-year-old girl. That she always said there was an interview that she said that she signed up to serve the American people. And I sympathize with trying to figure out what's wrong or right because no one truly knows. And I just saw this girl that is coming of age trying to navigate life that thought she was doing the right thing for the people that she served. She broke the law, but in her mind she was doing something patriotic and she was willing to suffer the consequences for it. Did you get a chance to speak with her and kind of get in her head?

I did. And what was her reaction when she heard you were going to play her? She's actually very funny. So I got to Tina, the director, she has been in talks with Reality's family for quite some time because she did a play first and then adapted it into a feature film. And she connected me with reality and I started texting her. And I was like, can we Zoom? And we got on Zoom, we Zoom for a couple hours and I was really nervous

because I wasn't quite sure what she was going to think or say of me and how I was going to navigate this conversation because I didn't want to impose on her life too much, but I also wanted to get to know her as much as possible because I wanted to make sure that I was truly embodying who she was. And I remember one of the first things she said was, the one thing I asked was for someone not to be pretty play me. And I was like, okay.

So she's super funny, and she has quite a sense of humor. And when I learned that about her, and I went back and I reread, the transcript, I found all of those moments in it that I didn't see before where she was trying to lighten the situation or she was coping through this sense of dry humor that she has about herself. You do see that in the film and it's what really happened. Again, FBI agents knock on the window of her car when she pulls in and she doesn't know what's coming turned into a long day, which at the end we can say she was arrested. What did she tell you about that day? Was she scared. Did she know why they were there? She didn't. She truly, like she said, in the transcript,

she thought that they were there to see if the house was still for rent because it was online. So she truly didn't know what was happening in the beginning. And you see in real time as you see the movie her navigating what is actually happening. Hey guys, thanks for listening to the Sunday Sit Down podcast. Stick around to hear more from Sidney right after the break. Welcome back now more of my conversation with Sidney Did you get the sense she had seen you and some of your other work? I didn't want to ask her.

I didn't want to ask her. But I don't know. I didn't ask her about me. I tried to dive so much into just her as much as possible. I'm sure she had. She watches you. We talked about our dogs. Oh, did you? Yeah, we talked about our love for dogs.

And the dog is kind of a central character in this film. It is. Yes. The FBI agents need to know where the dog is. And the cat under the bed, on the bed. Well, that's the thing, too. Some of the dialogue is so mundane, but then there's something it adds to the tension. The cat's under the bed.

You can't write that. Yeah, right? You can't write that. It's kind of amazing that it becomes this dramatic thriller, and it's just a transcript. So you are known for, in developing a character, you write these journals, right? Yes, I do.

Sometimes many, many pages. Lots and lots of pages. Building a backstory for the character. character. Was that part of your research for reality as well? It was. It was interesting because I usually, like I said, I have the freedom to be able to build my characters, my imagination. And with reality, I actually had the person and the groundwork of her life. And so I was able to take that and then build more life into it because I can't ask someone about their entire 25 years of their life on one Zoom. And so I took everything that I

could and then I just I built on top of it like I do with my other characters. And what surprised you about her? Did you have preconceived notions about her and then you talked to her? No, I didn't because I actually didn't know much about reality going into it. And I'm really glad because I was able to take on her character as just as a woman and not a headline or someone else's preconceived notion of who she was. I was able to truly just look at her as a character that I was playing and her experience that she went through. The reviews so far have been really good. I don't know if you're a review reader.

I don't like reading stuff online personally, but the reviews have been amazing. And I don't think people are surprised because they've watched you perform so well in other shows, but it is something different for you. It's fair to say. Was that a calculation you made? I want to do something that doesn't remind people of Euphoria or the White Lotus or your other work. I do. I always love to find characters that are completely different from others that I've played or from myself.

It's more fun. It's fun to challenge yourself and try new things and challenge what people think of you even. What was the biggest challenge of this character? Was it not deviating from an FBI transcript? I will say that was a lot of hard work because we were of 16 days that we filmed the movie and We were filming like 10 15 pages of dialogue and it was just pure dialogue. It's not like crazy action or was happening and all of these scenes, it was truly just these three people talking. And so every night it was just running lines and running lines. And that was something that was just a new experience

for me. And making sure that I started working out doing the same workouts that she did. And she posts on Instagram. And I changed the way that I held my face. I tried to observe how she does and I moved my face how she does. It was a really fun experience. Is it gratifying to hear some of the early reaction to it before it even comes out? It's pretty amazing. It's definitely a really beautiful feeling because so many people put a lot of hard work into it. And I'm really glad that it's resonating with people. It's amazing.

You're so good in it. And it is, like you say, it's like a play where you never come off the stage. It's just you're there and you're with the FBI agents. It's a big lift. It is. No, you're really good in it. Thank you. We were talking about Euphoria.

I said I have a daughter who's about to turn 16. And that is the iconic show for kids of a certain age in this country. And it will, you know, because not only it's an entertaining show, but because it reflects their experience, you know, in high school for better or for worse. Have you been struck by how resonant that show has been? I mean, that was obviously a big moment for you in your career, but also just the way it's really connected with the country. It's amazing. become a part of the culture, almost.

I mean, I remember my brother when he was like freshman and sophomore in college, and they were throwing euphoria at college-themed parties. And he was like, I can't escape it. Get away, get away. What did you love when you read that part about Cassie? There's so much to Cassie that I loved, especially in the beginning. I think that I always tend to. to drift towards characters who might read one way on a page and I like to find the layers

to that character because I think a lot of people could have looked at Cassie like on the show how a lot of people do they sexualize her they look at her as one way and finding the layers and just the emotional depth to who she is and why she is how she acts or how she thinks she's a beautiful broken character And we have a season three coming. I know you're not going to break any news right here right now. I can't. I understand.

I understand. But are you excited for where this is headed for season three? I'm really excited. I love playing Cassie, especially last season, because she was so crazy. And as an actor, that's just so much fun to kind of stretch your legs and play characters that go insane and do all these crazy choices. So I'm really looking forward to seeing what Cassie does season three. So are a lot of people.

What does it mean to have a teenage girl come up to you and say, I saw some of myself in Cassie, or you mean so much to me? It's such a beautiful feeling. It means a lot that I'm able to connect to so many people, because I think that's one of the reasons why I love acting and why I want to do what I do is because I get to connect with so many people all over that I would have never met or never would have known. before. And I'm learning so much through my characters, and it's beautiful to see other people getting to learn or share experiences as well. One of the other characters that really broke through was Olivia on the White Lotus, other than making everyone on Earth want to go to that resort in Maui. Yes. Which I understand you had to yourself because it was COVID. You're like, ooh, resorts are fun. No other people. Yeah, I've never been to a resort before. So that I think

I've now been told, skewed my perception of what a resort is. Just a bit. You don't usually buy out the whole resort, just so you know for your next visit. I don't want you to be disappointed. Yeah, I don't think I'll be able to do that. That show was, obviously, season two was a completely different group, except for Jennifer Coolidge. But that first season, I don't know, was there something about it, you're watching it, you're going, I don't even know if I like a lot of these people, but I like this show. What did you see in that show when you first read for that that you thought?

There is something here. Mike White, obviously. Mike White, honestly. He's just incredible. And being able to work with, I honestly felt like I was at some comedy camp. And I was learning from all the greats. But Olivia was just this character that I was scared of. I truly was scared of her.

And I knew that because I was scared of her, I had to do it. What were you scared of? I was scared of her wit. how mean she could be and how tactful she was with just like what she would say and how she would think and just a little conniving

Yeah, she could manipulate it for sure She's very manipulative And I don't know, it was just a character I hadn't played before So I wanted to do it So not to rub it in for everyone else But what was it like to have an entire Five-star resort rent it out to yourself It was pretty amazing

All the cast and crew lived there. But we weren't allowed to leave the resort. No one was allowed to come on. So it was like our bubble. We were tested every single day. It was just, we truly lived in a bubble. So it was sometimes scary because we didn't know what was going on outside our bubble. But we were very, like HBO took every precaution and we just lived in a resort.

Must be nice, Sydney. It was very nice. One of the things your shows all have in common, not just that they're actually. excellent series, but they dial into something in pop culture and there are a lot of memes. And it just, it does something to the culture. Did you feel that with White Lotus when it started had become more than it's? When it came out and people were starting to throw like White Lotus theme parties. Or I can't remember I was in Italy, I think during Venice Film Festival. I'm not quite sure. But people started coming up to me in Italy. And I've never had people come up.

to me and outside of the States. So I was like, oh, wow, this has gone a little further than I thought. Yeah. No, it definitely broke through. Yeah. It definitely broke through. So going back for a moment to the beginning of all this, because I love the origin story of how you started, how you became this actor that you've become, which is you

were in, correct me if I'm wrong, you were growing up in northwest Idaho. I was on the border of Washington in Idaho State. Okay, we're on the border. So it was like Spokane, Washington, and then, like, I would drive into, Idaho as well, but I'm going to protect my city of where I grew up because it's small, and I don't want people to go there. Okay. Okay.

We'll call it Spokane. We'll call it Spokane. Spokane East. Yeah. And you're an athletic kid. I am. Good in school, good student, all those things. Yeah.

And then a zombie movie comes to town? Yes. They were shooting a zombie movie and you decided you wanted to be in it? I did. What happened? So I always told my parents that I wanted to be an actress. Ever since I was probably two, three years old, I'd put on little, plays for my grandparents and my parents, and I had all these imaginary worlds and friends,

and I love playing dress-up. And I would tell my parents, I want to be an actress. And they just thought that it was like wanting to be a princess. Right. It was not real, so far from reality, so far from any type of world that my parents knew. And I never shut up about it. And so when I was about 11, 12 years old, this movie came to town, and I found out. and I put together a five-year business plan presentation.

How old are you with this plan? It's like 11, 12-year-in-between. With a five-year business plan, okay. Of what could happen if they let me audition for this movie. And if I audition for the movie, then I'll meet people who could introduce me to casting directors or agents, and then I could get into short films and commercials, and then it could take me to pilot season. Like, I looked into everything.

And my parents realized that I was very serious about this, and they let me. auditioned for it and they were hoping that that would just end it right there and it did not we are now here sitting here today what was the role do you remember yes I was I was a little girl who the zombie apocalypse was happening in my in my town and I think they ate my parents and I was just running across the street in this girl who was like one of the main characters grabs me she's like it's going to be okay and I'm crying and she holds my hand and pulls me across the street and I get hit by a truck oh no and she has my arm still in her hand Oh.

I know. And then I come back as a zombie. Oh, you came back? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. It was the silliest little film I could possibly have done. But it started at all.

And you've got to start somewhere. Exactly. And you're on a movie set, I bet. Oh, my God. It's the coolest thing ever. Look at all the stuff. It was so cool. Yeah.

I couldn't believe it. Stick around for more of my conversation with Sidney Sweeney right after a quick break. Welcome back now to the rest of my conversation with Sidney Sweeney. So that turns on the light switch. after you make this PowerPoint presentation to your parents. At 11 years old, which is impressive. And as you say, you convince them this is something I could be good at. And eventually you move south, right?

We started. We would drive down to L.A. for audition. So it was about an 18, 19-hour drive. If my mom was driving, if my dad was driving, it was like 22. Oh, mom's a passenger driver. Yeah. Okay. And my mom would literally after school, we would get in the car.

We would drive all night so we could get to the audition later that next day and we'd do the audition and then we'd get back in the car and we drive home. Wow. What a gift from your parents. I thank my parents every day. They sacrificed a lot. And to believe in you that much, we're going to do the drive.

And so what were those early years like? Were you encouraged by the reception you were getting down there? No. No. L.A. is very different from where I grew up. And it was hard because you go to from a small town to a big city and there's a hundred thousand people who want the exact same thing. And didn't know where to start, didn't know what to do. And so I was auditioning for anything and everything. And my five-year business plan wasn't five years.

It took 10. And it was just, it was a lot of noes. And as a pre-teen into a teenage girl, being told no all the time, like, that's really hard. and it was a lot of just rejection and I don't know, how to navigate a lot in a world that I didn't understand or know quite yet. I'm thinking about as a parent after year five, I might said, Sydney, what are we doing here? Maybe we'd come back home and try something else.

There was definitely, I don't, my parents said they never doubted me, but there were definitely moments where it was really hard. LA is way more expensive than where I grew up. And so we couldn't afford to keep our house back home, and that was really hard on my family. Couldn't afford to live in L.A., and that was really hard of my family. So I saw a lot of just hardships that my parents were taking on to allow my dream to continue. But I think that they also got the acting bug. I think that they also really enjoyed the world and just the newness every day.

Every day was different, and every day you'd audition for a different character, and you'd meet new people, and it's just so different from growing up and every day's the same. And I think they enjoyed that. So what's the moment then when you feel like, okay, I got a little break here. The door is open. I'm going to walk through. It wasn't until I was 19. And I booked a show called Sharp Objects on HBO with Amy Adams.

And I also booked Everything Sucks on Netflix. and I filmed those at the same time. And that same year was Handmaid's Tale, right? And that same year was Handmaid's Tale and the pilot for Euphoria. Wow. I filmed the pilot for Euphoria like two months after I wrapped Handma's Tale. Wow. So talk about 10 years of frustration and then just an explosion, right?

And that's just you being persistent, right? Persistent. A lot of hard work, a lot of auditioning. Yeah. It was a lot. And then those shows all go on to be successful. Yeah. But was Euphoria the first time you felt?

like, the world has changed. Euphoria definitely catapulted it to a complete different level. Right. Yes. Right. And what did that feel like to be known and seen and talked about and all those things? I'm still figuring it out. I'm still navigating that.

I'm sure. Yeah. It's just like a different day, every day. Yeah. Yeah. But just to have your face so recognizable and your name and you've become this sort of iconic person you have. I mean, truly, like I was saying, to teenage girls and others, have you grappled with that yet, that you are this sort of figure in the culture?

I definitely feel the responsibility of it, but I'm still figuring it all out. It's complicated. Yeah. I'm still a 25-year-old girl trying to figure out life. Yeah, yeah. Well, you're doing a pretty good job of it. Thank you.

So what's on the horizon? You've already done so much. So soon at a young age, when you look at your resume, it's already a career's worth. Are there things that now, I know you've got your own production company? I do. 50-50? Yes, 50-50 films.

And you want to do more of that kind of work? I do. I think because I've really enjoyed building my character so much, I wanted to take it to just a bigger scale. And I also really love behind-the-camera work and the business and how the business side of it all kind of orchestrates and maneuvers itself. So I dove into that. I produced my first film of Called Immaculate,

and that was at the top of this year. and then also anyone but you for Sony. And I'm really loving it. I'm really loving it. I like to read books and then I'll option the book rights and I'll put the team together and then we'll sell it. And you're also coming up at a time when that is normal. That was extraordinary and then some of the prominent actresses

who said, no, we're going to take control of this. It's nice to have control. Yeah. Are you going to direct? Maybe. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe.

I'll take each step at a time. I'll take one step at a time. I'll take one step at a time. You're like, don't push me along yet. One thing here. But I probably one day. Good. One day.

Well, we'll look forward to it. So you were nominated for an Emmy for Euphoria and again for White Lotus. Yes. Do you remember about the, do you remember the moment you got those phone calls? I do. I was actually, so I wasn't able to watch the live stream because I was in a fitting while I was filming Madam Webb in Boston. And I got in the car afterwards and I had all these missed calls.

I was like, oh gosh. And I called my mom. And my mom's like crying, and she's so excited. She was like, you got nominated. I was like, what? And she said, yeah, for euphoria. And I just, I couldn't believe it. It was just a dream come true.

And I just start crying. And then I'm looking on my phone as we're speaking, and I'm scrolling. I'm like, wait, why is there pictures of Olivia on here? And then I realized I got nominated for White Lotus as well. And I go, Mom! I got nominated twice. And she goes, what? You did?

She stopped. She stopped watching at Euphoria. She didn't even realize. I was just, I couldn't believe. I was just in shock. I couldn't believe it. That's a lot to take in on one day. It was a lot.

And I honestly, I don't think that I registered it at all the entire year last year. Even when I was actually at the Emmys, I think that I was just in some sort of days the entire time. It's a lot. It's a lot. It was. Speaking of your family, I do have to ask you, we were talking a minute ago, about their reaction to euphoria? Perhaps they weren't prepared

the first time they saw the show? No, my mom was. My mom knew because my mom visited me on set quite a few times. So she knew the story and I talked to her a lot about it. My dad didn't. I, yeah, I didn't prepare my dad at all.

I mean, how do you bring up a conversation? And also when I talk to my dad, it's usually not about work. It's just, hey, dad, and we talk, like, father-daughter conversations. So he decided he was going to watch it without telling me with his parents. So your grandparents and your father pull up with some popcorn. Yep.

Let's watch Sid and Euphoria. Yep. What happened next? My dad and my grandpa turned it off and walked out. But my grandma, my grandma's a good, she's a big supporter of mine. She's a fan. She is. She's a big fan of mine.

I actually, I bring her usually all over the world to my different sets and I make her an extra. Oh, that's so cool. Yeah. And she was very compliment. of your performance. She was. She was. She was. It's great. Congratulations on reality. It's really good. People are going to love seeing it. And mostly congratulations on your 69 Bronco. Thank you. That's on yours. The crown jewel of your career. It's definitely honestly. It's the highlight. It's definitely a highlight. It's the thing we're both most proud of in our lives.

My children, too. No, I have literally, I have an entire TikTok page. that is just my Bronco. Sure. Like, that's how much I love it. Right, and people love it. Yeah. Thanks, Sydney. Great to talk to you.

Thank you. Thank you. My big thanks again to Sydney for a great conversation. You can catch her new movie, Reality, streaming now on Max. And my thanks to all of you for listening again this week.

If you want to hear more of those conversations with my guests every week, be sure to click follow, so you never miss an episode. And don't forget to tune in to Sunday today every weekend on NBC. I'm Willie Geist. We'll see you right back here next week on Sunday Sit Down Podcast.