After Euphoria made her a recognizable face in Hollywood, Sydney Sweeney’s subsequent efforts in the award winning The White Lotus and the romantic comedy Anyone But You have proved that she is well on her way to becoming a superstar. Apart from her obvious talent, it is Sweeney’s smoldering looks and s*xy appearance that have been major talking points.
The actor has also performed her share of intimate and n*de scenes, but has always maintained that she would only agree to do so if her character demanded it. In her latest film, Immaculate, director Michael Mohan elaborated on his reasons for not including scenes of this nature not just for the character, but also with regard to Sweeney’s image.
Immaculate Director Was Against Filming N*de Sydney Sweeney Scenes For This Reason
Getting n*ked in front of the camera requires an actor to be completely comfortable with his or her body in order to appear at ease for the scene. Sydney Sweeney is a celebrity who has succeeded in achieving this with her marquee role in Euphoria and her romantic comedy with Glen Powell, Anyone But You.
In both these roles, Sweeney channeled the s*xy and sensual side of her persona that worked wonders for the projects. But in her latest film Immaculate, the Madame Web actor was seen in a completely different avatar as a nun who is privy to some terribly dark secrets.
Directed by Michael Mohan, the film which released in March 2024, became a sleeper hit and grossed over $20 million at the box office (via The Numbers). In an interview with LA Times, Sweeney spoke about the nature of her character and how n*dity would have been completely incongruous to the role.
It didn’t serve the character. It’s always whether it serves the character or not. I’m living someone else’s life. So if it serves to the development or the emotional state of a character, then it makes sense. But she was a nun. It didn’t make sense.
Mohan further added to this discussion and explained why he was even more aware of not exploiting the physicality of the character just for the sake of it when it came to working with The White Lotus star.
Well, I don’t want to be known as the guy who makes movies where Sydney gets n*ked. I don’t want that reputation.
Having said that, Sweeney and the filmmaker discussed a particularly sensual scene in the film shot in a bathhouse which had a simmering s*xuality that did not require any ounce of clothing to be stripped off, but worked wonders just by what was implied.
Sydney Sweeney Called Out Unnecessary Exposure in Euphoria
Sydney Sweeney played the vengeful and openly s*xual Cassie Howard in Sam Levinson’s Euphoria starring Zendaya in the lead role. This gritty and realistic drama about teenaged drug addicts became a huge blockbuster. It also contained many scenes of graphic s*xual content especially with relation to Sweeney’s character.
The Handmaid’s Tale star though, was openly against putting herself and her character through unnecessary exposure and requested her director Sam Levinson to do away with some of the scenes that did not require excessive n*dity. In an interview with The Independent, she said,
There are moments where Cassie was supposed to be shirtless and I would tell Sam, ‘I don’t really think that’s necessary here’.
While there were many criticisms targeted at Levinson for trying to bring in too much graphic n*dity into his show, Sweeney was quick to clarify that the director was extremely receptive to her suggestions and understood her point of view. She also revealed that Levinson respected her wishes and toned down the content based on her opinions.
Immaculate can be purchased on Apple TV.
