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Sydney Sweeney takes us through 8 of her most iconic roles in this episode of "The Breakdown." From landing one of her first major TV gigs on 'Pretty Little Liars' to filming 'Euphoria' alongside Jacob Elordi, Zendaya, and more, Sweeney breaks down what it was really like auditioning for and stepping into each role. The star opens up about the behind-the-scenes moments that shaped her performances: from casting Amanda Seyfried to nerves on 'SNL' to auditioning for Quentin Tarantino alongside Brad Pitt for 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.' From 'The Housemaid' to 'The White Lotus' to 'Anyone But You,' watch to revisit some of our favorite roles.

Check out Sydney Sweeney's Cosmo Cover Story here: https://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/celebs/a70001220/sydney-sweeney-interview-2026/

#SydneySweeney #Euphoria #TheWhiteLotus #TheHousemaid #TheBreakdown #Cosmopolitan

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Transcript
00:00I don't think I'll ever be able to live that scene down.
00:03I think it'll follow me for the rest of my life.
00:06Hi, I'm Sydney Sweeney, and this is The Breakdown.
00:09I will usually watch my work at the premiere or when we're editing,
00:15but once it premieres and I'm done, I don't typically watch it again.
00:19Can I talk to you ladies?
00:20We're working, and you don't say no to someone like Addison.
00:24I mean, she'd have to be, like, dead first.
00:27Oh my goodness.
00:28Here I am as Willa on Pretty Little Liars.
00:32So I was a huge fan of the show.
00:35My best friend Jade and I, every week we would get, like, a tub of Cinnabon ice cream,
00:40and we would sit on the couch, and we would just binge watch Pretty Little Liars.
00:44And when this audition came, I remember I was super excited.
00:48It was a very small role, but it was, like, the last episode of the season.
00:54I don't know why, but I wore my glasses to the audition,
00:58and I've never worn my glasses for anything ever before.
01:01I used to feel really self-conscious about wearing glasses,
01:04and I booked it, and they had me wear my glasses in it, which was really exciting.
01:09Hawaiian guy seems to be okay.
01:11Everybody's talking all friendly.
01:12That was Snake and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
01:19I turned 21 while I was filming that, which was a very memorable 21st birthday.
01:25And I was also in the middle of filming season one of Euphoria.
01:28The audition process was probably one of the coolest audition processes I've ever had.
01:34Everybody got the same scene, and you could come in,
01:39and they said if you wanted to do, like, extra credit, in a sense, or extra homework, you could.
01:45And everybody interpreted that in different ways.
01:47I knew that they were interested in me in Snake,
01:50and I decided to write a love letter to Manson.
01:56Some people painted paintings, wrote songs.
01:59Like, it was just, it was a really cool, immersive process.
02:01And then I had a callback, and then had another callback where it was,
02:07I want to say, like, 15, 20 of us, and we just kind of all hung out,
02:12and it was, it was, like, a really cool session where we just sat with him and talked,
02:15and we all got in different groups, and he mixed and matched us.
02:19I remembered once I left there, I called my mom, and I was like,
02:22even if I don't get this, that was probably the coolest experience.
02:25I have ever had, and I'm just lucky enough to be in that room.
02:29And then later that night, I found out that I got it.
02:33He's stimming.
02:34He can entertain himself for hours with just his own hand gestures.
02:37I'm fine in here.
02:39See, Mom, he's fine.
02:40He's being himself, gaming and fapping and bi.
02:43That is Olivia from White Lotus Season 1.
02:48She was a fun character.
02:50She's, like, my mom's worst nightmare.
02:53And it's fun building characters that represent a certain, like, generation almost.
02:59And with Olivia, Mike had it on the page.
03:03Like, it was there.
03:04And then it was just about bringing her to life in a certain way and being in touch.
03:10At that time, I was like, okay, she's going to be one of those people that's, like, on Twitter 24-7.
03:15Oh, my God.
03:16Do I look like I'm in Oklahoma?
03:17Why would your play be set in Oklahoma?
03:19You thought I was auditioning for Oklahoma.
03:21I haven't read it, so.
03:23I don't think I'll ever be able to lift that scene down.
03:26I think it'll follow me for the rest of my life.
03:29What was the hardest scene to shoot?
03:33Whenever we have to do party scenes in Euphoria, they're pretty hard.
03:38Because we usually have over 300 extras.
03:41We're filming night shoots, and they're night shoots back-to-back.
03:44So my call time will be 2.30 p.m.
03:46And I'll be filming until, like, 6, 7 a.m.
03:48And then, again, the next day for a week-long, straight sometimes.
03:53And it's a party, so you're just full of energy.
03:57And Cassie, of course, is just doing chaotic stuff.
04:00And those are probably some of the hardest days.
04:03That bathroom set was actually not a part of the party scene.
04:06So we filmed the party and the bathroom scene, like, weeks and weeks apart.
04:11What I remember the most is trying to figure out exactly how we were going to lay me in the tub.
04:18Because it was a weird-shaped tub, and we had to make sure we saw the phone and the wash regs.
04:24Everything just becomes super technical.
04:26What were your first impressions of some of your fellow cast members?
04:30I was just nervous.
04:32I'd never been on a big, huge TV show like this before.
04:37And automatically, I just became really good friends with Mod.
04:40It was, like, my college, high school friend group that I never really, really got.
04:47But what do I do?
04:49Oh, no.
04:50This is the time that I'm supposed to be meeting people and doing things.
04:56Holly, I gotta call you back.
04:59God damn it.
05:00What I love about that scene is I love physical comedy.
05:05I think it's fun.
05:06I think it's embarrassing.
05:08I think it pulls you out of your comfort zone.
05:10I think that it brings people together in a fun way.
05:13And that was all Will, our director.
05:16I saw Glenn in Top Gun, and then I also met him at the MTV Movie Awards.
05:21And when I was putting together the list for who would star opposite me in Anyone But You,
05:27I wanted to find that guy that everybody likes and is not afraid to have fun
05:34and wanted to just get down and dirty and make this film.
05:40Because, honestly, when I brought it to him, it was just a script.
05:43And so I needed someone who knew that it was going to be a lot of hard work
05:49and we were going to have to put it together.
05:52We're 22-year-old girls in situationships.
05:56We can find out anything about anyone with literally no information.
05:59All right, then.
06:01Coo-coo-coo-coo.
06:02SNL.
06:03You know, I've never actually watched my episode.
06:05I have the worst stage fright.
06:09SNL was my worst nightmare.
06:12But also, it was the most fun, too,
06:15because you're just surrounding yourself with hilarious people.
06:18They all are loving their job
06:20and it's a really incredible thing to be a part of.
06:24But I was petrified.
06:25My mouth, literally, I remember when I was going out to do my monologue,
06:29all of a sudden my mouth dried up.
06:31And I think it's called cod mouth.
06:33I felt like my lips were sticking to the top of my teeth
06:36and I was just talking with my teeth and I was, oh, it was terrifying.
06:40They change things as you're going.
06:42So, like, they're holding up cue cards and they're writing things down
06:45and in the middle of it, they'll just start kind of changing stuff.
06:48So, you just have to, like, be on your toes and it's live.
06:53I need to go back so that I can have a more, like, open experience to it.
06:58I think I'm just so nervous.
06:59So, I don't want to meet you, Mr. King.
07:02Well, tell me about yourself.
07:04Jesse here says that you fight in all pink.
07:09I'm from West Virginia.
07:10What's that got to do with pink?
07:12Nothing, sir.
07:13I'm just telling you about myself.
07:14That is Christy Martin and Christy.
07:17I definitely think that all of the prep from when I was young.
07:22I started kickboxing and grappling when I was 12 until I was about 19
07:25unknowingly was preparing me for the role of a lifetime.
07:30And I'd never quite done something that intense before.
07:33I trained for about two and a half months beforehand
07:36and I gained 35 pounds for the role.
07:39That was a challenge in itself, but then once we started filming,
07:43I had to keep training, so I'd work 14-hour days on set,
07:48but then an hour before my call, I'd work out,
07:50and then usually two to three hours afterwards,
07:53I'd be fight training and working out again.
07:55I did it all for Christy.
07:57When the paparazzi photos came out and I started becoming about my body,
08:01I was like, no, no, no, no, this is for Christy.
08:04Like, I'm here to tell an amazing story, and it's so incredible
08:07that women have bodies that we can tell stories with,
08:11and I think that's a superpower.
08:12And I wanted to redirect it to,
08:17no, this is actually a badass woman,
08:19and what you see is incredible.
08:23Are you hungry?
08:24I'm sure we can turn this dinner for three into a dinner for four.
08:26No, I'm probably just going to go upstairs and get all settled in.
08:31You sure?
08:31If you don't mind, I'll just come down afterwards and tidy up.
08:34Yeah, get settled. Take your time.
08:37We're so happy that you're here.
08:38You just last night we changed your mind.
08:40Thanks.
08:41That is Millie and the Housemaid.
08:44I read the first one, and then I listened to the audiobooks for the second and the third.
08:49What is that like, having a book as one text, a script as another text?
08:54I love it.
08:55The more information I have, the better.
08:57I did Sharp Objects, and it was also a book as well, Gillian Flynn, and I love having the most material possible to be able to kind of dissect and do homework and piece things together.
09:08It makes it like a fun puzzle piece.
09:10I'm like the hugest Amanda Seyfried fan, and when we were talking about different people
09:17to play Nina and Amanda was on the list, I was like, okay, done, doing it.
09:21Come on.
09:22Let's just, let's call her.
09:23I want her.
09:24She is, she's everything.
09:27We were in the production offices, and we were going to do like a hair and makeup wardrobe
09:35test.
09:36I was there already, and then she came in, and I was with my best friend Kaylee, and Kaylee
09:42stood up to take, to give Amanda a hug, and her phone got caught in the back of the chair,
09:46and so when she stood up, the chair was stuck to her, and she was the funniest thing, because
09:51she gives Amanda a hug with a chair in her ass.
09:53It was really funny, but it just kind of was like the start of our really, like, silly,
09:59fun bond, all of us.
10:01If Christy, Millie, Cassie, and you had a chat, what would you name them?
10:07Call her therapist.
10:10Thanks so much for watching.
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