When it comes to filming a nude scene, Sydney Sweeney has never, ever been happier than on the Euphoria set. In an interview for Variety’s Actors on Actors series, Sweeney talks to Christina Ricci about shooting these moments—and she says that she feels lucky do so in the “safe environment” of Euphoria.
“I’m very fortunate that I am coming up during a time where there is so much thought in this process, and we now have intimacy coordinators,” Sweeney says. “I have weirdly become very confident with my body through Cassie.”
During Euphoria’s third season, Cassie finds herself in more than a few sexual scenes once she begins having an illicit affair with her best friend Maddy’s toxic ex-boyfriend Nate.
Sweeney also shares some insight into Cassie’s mindset. “[Cassie] doesn’t know how to communicate without showing her body,” Sweeney says. “That is a form of communication for her, and she was never taught that you did not need that.”
As the season carries on, Cassie’s intimate relationship with Nate grows isolating, possessive, and downright hard to watch. But behind the scenes, Sweeney says the process of filming was the exact opposite—she always felt supported and respected.
“We choreograph the whole thing,” she explains. “Sometimes there’s yoga mats that you can put in between each other. Or there’s like pads that you can put, or yoga blocks, there’s some weird stuff. And even if you have agreed to something, they ask you on the spot on the day, ‘Did you change your mind? Because you can.’ It’s really nice. I’ve never felt uncomfortable.”
Sweeney previously spoke to The Independent about playing Cassie, and expressed frustration that her performance seemed to lose validity once she disrobed.
“I’m very proud of my work in Euphoria. I thought it was a great performance. But no one talks about it because I got naked,” she said at the time. “I do The White Lotus and all of a sudden critics are paying attention. People are loving me. They’re going, ‘Oh my God, what’s she doing next?’ I was like, ‘Did you not see that in Euphoria? Did you not see that in The Handmaid’s Tale?”