Sydney Sweeney Says That She Can’t Afford To Take A Six-Month Break Because They Don’t Pay Actors Like They Used To

July 28, 2022 / Posted by:

Actors: They’re just like us! At least according to HBO Max’s teenage angst-darling, Euphoria‘s Sydney Sweeney. Sydney tells The Hollywood Reporter that even though we all think she’s a hot high-paid actress (she is) she actually isn’t paid as much as she could be or as much as actors used to be. Sydney is getting checks from HBO (The White Lotus, Euphoria) and Sony/Marvel (Madame Web), but still, she says that she can’t afford to take a six-month break from acting. As opposed to the rest of the world–who could easily take off half a year from our day jobs to fuck around and not suffer financially.

Put this in the “…And?” file. While talking to THR, the 24-year-old double-Emmy-nominee says that she grew up lower-middle-class and while she was filming White Lotus, she noticed how lower-class she was compared to the clientele of the Hawaiian resort where they filmed:

For much of the shoot, she had the run of the place, getting to know the staff well enough to pop in to the kitchen and grab food from the refrigerator. “We were all friends, and [the resort] felt like a house that belonged to all of us,” she says. “Then toward the end, they opened up the resort to guests, and it became clear I did not belong [among the clientele]. I would go to breakfast in my sweatshirt and pajama shorts and get the most disgusting glares from the guests that I dared to show up like that.”

Sydney then got into nepotism babies, which she’s not a fan of since she gets frustrated seeing them who waltz through the door thanks to their connections. PS! Judd Apatow‘s daughter, Maude Apatow, is on Euphoria with Sydney.

“The rejection you get while you’re trying to learn to be yourself is insane,” she says. “It’s insane how adults look at you.” Even with two Emmy noms, she says her sense of being a Hollywood outsider remains. “I had no idea getting into this industry how many people have connections. I started from ground zero, and I know how fucking hard it is. Now I see how someone can just walk in a door, and I’m like, “I worked my fucking ass off for 10 years for this.””

Sydney then lamented about the trials and tribulations of a famous working actress who is forced to take fashion promotional deals to pay the bills in L.A.. Those people who are forced to work at Burger King to barely afford their three-bedroom apartment have NOTHING on Sydney.

“If I wanted to take a six-month break, I don’t have income to cover that,” she says. “I don’t have someone supporting me, I don’t have anyone I can turn to, to pay my bills or call for help… They don’t pay actors like they used to, and with streamers, you no longer get residuals… The established stars still get paid, but I have to give 5 percent to my lawyer, 10 percent to my agents, 3 percent or something like that to my business manager. I have to pay my publicist every month, and that’s more than my mortgage.”

It’s not that she wants people to feel badly for her, but she is adamant that the luxuries of the job not gloss over the realities of the business. To stay relevant as a young actress… She says this is what motivated her pivot into brand deals, taking gigs as a Miu Miu ambassador and starring in an Armani beauty campaign: “If I just acted, I wouldn’t be able to afford my life in L.A. I take deals because I have to.”

Damn, the rich people are even forcing out other rich people from society now! But well, the good news for Sydney is that her birthday is coming up on September 12. So she should expect to get an extra $20 stuffed into her birthday card from her grandparents, along with the note, “The best tits in Hollywood deserve better!

Here are pics of Sydney Sweeney in THR:

Pic: Janet Mayer/INSTARimages/Cover Images

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