Sydney Sweeney talks about her new film “Immaculée”

Series Euphoria about a group of American teenagers revealed multiple talents: Zendaya, Hunter Schafer, Jacob Elordi as well as Sydney Sweeney. With more than 20 million followers on Instagram and tens of millions of views of all the videos about her on TikTok, the latter has quickly become one of the most influential and sought-after young actresses in Hollywood.

Ambassador of several luxury brands including Armani, Sydney Sweeney created her own production company in 2020, Fifty-Fifty, to be in charge of her future projects including Immaculate is one of the first feature films. This psychological horror film hits our screens on Wednesday July 10, 2024 and in preview at the NIFFF on Sunday July 7 and Tuesday July 9.

“At primary school, it was sport that attracted me most,” she said. And I should say sports because I was on the football team, the baseball team but I also loved ski competitions and wakeboarding. I injured myself and was advised to look for a less dangerous extracurricular activity. I discovered comedy and theater.” Long before EuphoriaSydney had participated from the age of 13 in episodes of numerous television hits such as Grey’s Anatomy, Criminal Minds, 90210, Pretty Little Liars and more recently, The Handmaid’s Tale: The Handmaid’s Tale as well as The White Lotus which allowed him to obtain multiple nominations in the USA.

Very private private life

At 26, Sydney Sweeney knows how to avoid the pitfalls of American showbiz by focusing on her career while refusing to discuss her private life. She has been engaged since last year to a businessman, Jonathan Davino, but the couple avoids all public appearances. “Apart from filming or promotional periods, I prefer to live out of sight. I have often been asked if I am a good liar, but the answer is no because I do not believe that you have to know how to lie to act, quite the contrary!

“For me, being an actress means telling the truth of a character.”

“For each role, I write entire pages of a diary with my thoughts on the childhood of the girl I play, her family, her friends, where she may have lived before… in short, everything that can help me embody her and understand her beyond the details that are in the script.”

It was in Austin, Texas, during the SXSW festival, that Sydney presented Immaculate as a world premiere to the American press. Femina was there.

FEMINA Euphoria has made you known throughout the world. With the cinema release ofImmaculatewhat are your hopes and aspirations for the rest of your career?
Sydney Sweeny I want to prove that I can be more than just the blonde Euphoria. Cassie Howard is an extraordinary girl to play because she is complex. We love her, we hate her… There are so many facets to her personality that from one episode to the next, viewers could have opposing feelings about her. I owe a lot to this series that made me known and I am very grateful for everything it has brought me these last few years.

On screen, I want to represent hundreds of different women. I refuse to let myself be confined to the clichés of actresses that we have unfortunately seen too often for decades.

You wanted to buy the scenario ofImmaculate to make a film in which you are the lead actress and producer. Why?
This story came from the brilliant mind of Andrew Lobel. I had auditioned for the film ten years ago but it was never made at the time. I never stopped thinking about it and every year I would ask my agent how the project was going and if another actress had been hired instead of me. When I had the opportunity to get involved in production, this script came back to me and so I decided to produce it myself. I contacted Michael Mohan who had directed my film The Voyeurs three years ago and with which I had an excellent experience (with Justice Smith & Ben Hardy, available on Prime Video).

Why production?
I always knew that I didn’t want to limit myself to just being an actress that was hired for a job. From my first role, I wanted to get involved in building my character. I have always seen my work as a collaboration with an entire team to bring a project to life. It has always fascinated me to work with the person in charge of costumes as well as makeup, sets and special effects for example. I take real pleasure in interacting with other professionals because I learn more every day from their contact.

By being a producer of my projects, I feel like I am growing every day in my career because I have a better knowledge of all the elements that are essential to make a successful film.

How to summarize Immaculate?
I play as Sister Cecilia, a young American nun who moves to a remote convent near Rome. Everything seems to be going well until Cecilia discovers that horrible things are happening in the convent.

Immaculate is a horror film but one that addresses infanticide, abortion and genetic modification. Can we say that it is also a message to defend the right to abortion which is increasingly under attack in certain American states which wish to ban it completely?
I refuse to talk about politics because, nowadays, everything can be taken up and especially distorted on social networks. However, I defend the fact that a woman has the right to decide about her body. I touched on this subject in Euphoria when Cassie got pregnant by her boyfriend McKay who panicked when he heard the news and pressured her to have an abortion. Every woman should be free to decide in her own conscience.