Who Is Sydney Sweeney? 5 Things to Know After Actress’ Viral Anti-Bullying Message

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Who Is Sydney Sweeney? 5 Things to Know After Actress’ Viral Anti-Bullying Message

Euphoria actress Sydney Sweeney took a stand against online bullying in a tearful Instagram Live — and quickly caught social media users’ attention. "Apparently I am trending on Twitter right now for being ugly," Sweeney, 23, said on Saturday, May 8. "I think it's really important for people to see how words actually affect people." The initial tweet calling Sweeney "ugly" has since been removed, and many have come to the actress' defense. "I know everyone says, 'You can't read things,' and 'You shouldn't read things,' but like, I'm a f—king person. I'm just sitting here with my dog Tink, watching HGTV, wearing my Snuggie. People need to be nicer on social media because it's really f—ked up." Fans rallied to cheer up the crying celeb. [jwplayer Qww0nljK-l3ahXupL] “If y’all think Sydney Sweeney is ugly idek know what I am,” one user tweeted. “Appreciation post for Sydney Sweeney. she's so talented & has such a beautiful soul,” another praised. “I want every single person calling sydney sweeney ugly to do a face reveal right now,” one fan quipped. Another added, “I won’t forget y’all for making sydney sweeney cry.” “@sydney_sweeney please don't care about the hate comments. have so much people in this world that love you so much. sending love to tou [sic], we love you,” a fan account wrote. “I LOVE YOU SYDNEY.” Even singer Bea Miller came out in defense of the actress. “Whoever made sydney sweeney cry drop your location i just wanna talk,” she wrote. “We march at dawn.” Previously, Sweeney has admitted she cares what people on the internet think of her. “I’m not gonna lie. I’m not one of those people who’s like, ‘I’m super confident. I don’t care what people think.’ I’m a real person,” she told Collider in November 2020. “I care what people say and what they think and what they comment, so I definitely am always like, ‘oh my god, should I post this?’” She added that cancel culture makes her overthink social media posts often. “I’m terrified of what I’m not aware of or thinking when I post this, and I don’t want to be deaf to anything going on,” she said. “I get really nervous.” PopCrave, a Twitter account, captured a clip of Sweeney’s Instagram Live, which has been viewed over 133,000 times. There's more to the starlet than just a tearful viral video, though. Keep scrolling to learn more about Sweeney’s rise to stardom: [podcast_block]

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You've Seen Her Before

Sweeney usually isn't crying on Instagram. In fact, she doesn't use social media a ton because she works a lot. She's racked up nearly 50 acting credits over the last decade, starting with guest gigs on hits like Grey's Anatomy and Criminal Minds. She's had some very high-profile roles on The Handmaid's Tale, Sharp Objects and, of course, Euphoria. She's also hit the big screen in Once Upon a Time...In Hollywood and Big Time Adolescence, both released in 2019.

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She Created a Five-Year Plan at Age 12

Convincing her parents to let her go from Washington to Hollywood was difficult, so she pulled an Emma Stone and made a PowerPoint presentation for her mom and dad. Not only did she discuss her dreams but she also created a business plan.

“I created a five-year business plan that basically explained what could happen in my life if they let me do this, the steps I had to take, things I had to work toward,” she told LA Confidential in December 2018. “They were like, ‘OK, maybe she’s a little serious about this!’ They let me audition for [ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction], and I ended up booking it.”

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She's Earning Her Business Degree

The ingenue is taking online college courses and is majoring in business to help her navigate the world of Hollywood contracts. “I want to be able to read my contracts and know what the hell they say when I’m making $20 million so I’m not getting f--ked over," she told Cosmopolitan in August 2019. “You will always be the number one person looking out for yourself.”

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Her Life Is Nothing Like ‘Euphoria’

While the HBO show depicts teens living on the edge, Sweeney spent her teen years focused and determined to make it in the entertainment world. “Drug and alcohol abuse, and addiction, runs in my family,” she told Elite Daily in 2018. “I just never really cared to try any of it.” She said her mom “would kill my ass if I ever came home drunk or high, and I was terrified of my mother.”

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Confidence Came Later

The Everything Sucks actress was ready to go to Hollywood, but she struggled with self-esteem as a young teen. She told Backstage that she'd give her past self some simple advice. "Be more confident in who you are," she said in June 2020. "Confidence is something I wish I’d had when I was younger with my self-image and my body. I wasn’t that 13-year-old skinny little girl. I had some meat on my bones, and I felt very self-conscious next to other girls."