Sydney Sweeney‘s career could be at risk if she continues shooting racy scenes, experts have warned.
There are concerns within the industry that the Euphoria star, 28, could become ‘typecast’, with sexualised characters becoming ‘her entire brand proposition’.
The third and final series of HBO‘s Euphoria has seen Sydney’s character Cassie become an OnlyFans model, with divisive scenes seeing her dress up as a baby and a cat.
Speaking to Fox News, crisis and reputation management expert Dave Quast said: ‘Euphoria clearly helped establish Sydney Sweeney as a fearless performer, physically and emotionally, and that’s part of why she broke through.
‘The risk is that when the public conversation focuses more on the sexualised aspects of the role than on the performance, the same work that made her seem daring can start to narrow the brand’.
Sydney Sweeney’s career could be at risk if she continues shooting racy scenes, experts have warned
‘Sexuality on screen is not inherently unserious. The problem is when it becomes the dominant shorthand for the actor.
‘For Sweeney, the challenge is not that she has played sexualised roles. The challenge is making sure those roles continue to read as character choices, not as the entire brand proposition.’
Last year, Sydney starred in erotic psychological thriller The Housemaid, which saw her appear in racy scenes with co-star Brandon Sklenar.
The latest series of Euphoria has drawn criticism from some fans over a slew of bizarre scenes, including ‘unnecessary’ nudity and gory moments.
Earlier this month, creator Sam Levinson was called out for the ‘unnecessary use’ of Nazi symbols in the show.
Fans – who had been hoping for a return to the complex, gritty content of the first two series – were also critical of scenes which saw Sydney’s character appear topless and suck toes.
However, episode six of season three proved that creator Sam was still out to shock and scandalise viewers with even more disturbing content.
In one disturbing scene, Faye Valentine’s (played by Chloe Cherry) white supremacist drug dealer Wayne (Toby Wallace) – who has a tattoo of Othala [a Nazi symbol] on his arm – gives her a swastika tattoo on her lower back.
The latest series of Euphoria has drawn criticism from some fans over a slew of bizarre scenes, including ‘unnecessary’ nudity and gory moments
On Sunday night’s episode of the show, Sydney went completely topless, yet again, in a wild sex scene during the penultimate episode – titled ‘Rain or Shine’
Creator Sam has been criticised by fans for the use of Nazi symbols in the show, as they claimed it had no relevance. A previous episode also showed Faye in a graphic sex scene with Wayne in front of a Nazi flag.
And viewers have been most appalled by how far Sydney’s character, Cassie, has been willing to go, with her most X-rated scenes yet.
While shooting content for her OnlyFans, Cassie has dressed as an ‘adult baby’ as well as going fully nude for scenes.
Fans were also disturbed by Cassie’s ‘puppy play’ exploits when she dressed up as a lingerie-clad dog, which led to Sam having to defend the scenes.
Last year, Sydney starred in erotic psychological thriller The Housemaid, which saw her appear in racy scenes with co-star Brandon Sklenar
Sam told The Hollywood Reporter: ‘[Cassie] has got her dog house and her little dog ears and the nose, and that has its own humour, but what makes the scene is the fact that her housekeeper is the one filming it.
‘What we wanted to always find is the other layer of absurdity that we’re able to tie into it so that we’re not too inside of her fantasy or illusion – the gag is to jump out, to break the wall.’
Meanwhile, Sydney told Entertainment Tonight: ‘I mean, Cassie’s a crazy character. She will do anything and at all costs to be famous this season, and she makes a lot of very wild and interesting choices.’
Sam previously defended the explicit nature of his work, noting during the 2023 Cannes Film Festival: ‘We live in a very sexualized world. The influence of pornography is really strong in terms of the psyche of young people.’
