(upbeat music)
- I'm Oliver Trevena, In Studio for the Hollywood Reporter,
joined by the lovely Sydney Sweeney.
- Hi.
- How are ya? - I'm good, how are you?
- You're busy.
- I've been very busy.
- Non-stop, non-stop.
Project to project to project, you're just non-stop.
- I like to work.
- You do like to work, which is incredible,
cause you're very young, and yet,
like a decade of experience already.
- I feel old though.
- You do? - Yes.
- Do I look old?
(Sydney laughs)
So yeah, but I'm sorry about the feeling.
That comes with a lot of work, yeah.
- Gotta grown up some day.
- There you go, there you go, this is true, this is true.
Let's talk about Handmaid's Tale, what an entrance, Eden.
- Yes. - Yeah, that was quite a dark,
kind of eerie way to go into something I guess--
- It is, it definitely- - Is a short way
of puttin' it.
- Disruptive, and-
- Yeah, yeah.
Kinda like you, disruptive.
- Yeah.
- Exactly, exactly.
How is it going into a show like that?
The, you know, obviously the second season,
but the first season, I mean, the successes.
I mean, it's huge, it's one
of the biggest shows, you know, today.
So how is it going into a show like that?
- It was very intimidating.
- And I felt like I had a lot I needed
to live up to to be able to carry Eden
and meet these incredible actors, so.
- And you mentioned the cast and yeah,
that's another plus as well.
- Elizabeth Moss,
oh my gosh. - Wow, I mean
Yvonne Strahovski, Max Minghella, I mean, Joseph Fiennes.
It's literally one of those lists
that you look at and you're like,
oh my word, they're all in the same show.
- Mhm.
- So you auditioned for the show.
- Yes. - A lot pressure on that?
- Yes, I actually, I hadn't seen the show yet-
- Oh that's probably a good thing.
- Until I got the audition. - That's a good thing then.
- And then I was like, I'll watch the first episode
to kind of get a feeling for the show,
and I ended up watching the entire season that night.
- Because you wanted to.
- Because I couldn't stop.
- Okay. - It was like what happens?
And then I ran outta my room, went to my mom's room,
was like, "You have to watch this show,"
and we watched it all over again.
- Amazing, amazing.
And then of course, did you,
did you read the book then, or you-
- When I got the callback, then I read the book that day,
and then I auditioned again and I read with Max.
- That's a lot to do, in a short time span.
- It was, it was a lot of studying, a lot of homework.
- Okay. - I wanted to make sure
that I knew how Eden would be,
what a child in Gilead would be like, and I wanted
to make sure that I could portray that in the audition.
- Yeah it's so much, I guess, to think about,
because even the pairing, you and Max, like it's not like
what people would put together but obviously for this show,
it's what works, but how is it?
Is it strange on set, playing this?
'Cause I mean the wedding scene in particular, it's weird.
- It was weird. - It's weird.
It's like, it's, I'm actually starting
to sweat a little bit and it's not the turtleneck,
it's just thinking about that wedding scene.
- It was a little weird but Max is so great to work with
because we came such good friends
that it was hanging out on set and goofing off
and listening to Taylor Swift and...
- So that, I have to be honest, that's not
what I expected on the set of Handmaid's Tale.
- Yep. - Okay.
- So that's gone on. - We listen to Taylor Swift
and joke around and it's a lot of fun.
- So it's very lighthearted?
- It is, completely different than
when you're actually in the scene.
- Okay, which is good, because I think going
into a show like that, that's quite dark and eerie,
and then you've got pull yourself out of it.
- It's good to have something to take you out.
And the crew are all nice and fun,
so you never get stuck in it.
- Okay.
There's nothing better than Taylor Swift to pull you out of-
- Yes. - Out of a tough moment.
So what can we expect from Eden?
What's going on?
Can you give us much?
- She's going to do the unexpected.
- Okay.
I could see that.
You strike, Eden strikes me as someone
that you just might just shock,
shock value, I guess, shock value.
- Completely. I mean she's a true believer.
It's all she knows is-
- Right. - Gilead,
and to become a commander's wife
and to have a child, and just imagine a 15 year old
who only knows that and wants that
and what she is going to do.
- Right, yeah, you can see it in her eyes.
- Mhm. - She's focused.
- She's very focused,
she knows what she wants. - She's very focused, okay.
- She knows what God wants from her.
- There you go, watch this space, watch this space.
Well one small project to another, Sharp Objects.
- Yes. - HBO miniseries,
with Amy Adams.
- Amy Adams, - Love the Amy.
Jean-Marc Vallée.
- Yeah. - Incredible.
- Another small cast to go into.
You're just tickin' boxes like dream, dream castmates.
- It's been an amazing year.
- It has been an incredible year,
it's gonna be an incredible few years, yeah-
- I hope so. - And you just keep going.
What can you tell us about Sharp Objects?
I know not a lot, but what can you tell us?
- Well about my character specifically,
it's more in Amy Adam's character, Camille's past,
and my character has a dark upbringing, and a dark presence.
That's pretty much- - That's it?
- All I can say about it.
- It's another thriller from what I've heard about it,
it's another quite, it's quite dark.
- It is, it's dark-
- It's dark again? - It's twisted,
it has that beautiful Big Little Lies-
- Right, right. - Feeling because
of Jean-Marc Vallée and everyone involved,
and it's very twisted, I mean,
Gillian Flynn wrote the incredible book, so-
- Right, right, right, right, exactly.
- Have that. - Once again,
a lot of pressure going into a project this,
with a fan base and everything already there.
- Yeah.
- How have the fans reacted to Handmaid's Tale, by the way?
Do you keep up to date with all that?
- What was interesting was the other day,
I was at a restaurant.
- Okay. - And I was sitting there
and I heard the table next to us
talking about Handmaid's Tale,
and I was like, "Oh my gosh, like, oh no,"
and they started talking about Eden, and they were like,
"I hate her! Taking Nick away from June,"
and I was like, "Oh my god, I'm leaving."
- Did it really make you feel uncomfortable?
Is it really bad? - Yes, I felt so bad.
I was like, "I'm not meaning to.", no.
- You shoulda just turned around and said something.
- No I left.
- It'd been like that moment in Notting Hill.
You remember when they were talking about...
Have you seen Notting Hill?
I don't know why I'm giving a reference
to this girl. - No.
- Oh, it's an amazing movie, but Julia Roberts is at a table
and they're saying how they hate her,
and it's a great, you've gotta watch that tonight.
- I'll watch it, okay. - That's your homework.
That's your homework, yeah,
like you don't have enough to do.
Yeah, and it's- - No, so I've noticed
like a lot of people dislike Eden
because of the whole Nick and June-
- Right, right. - Romance,
and also Eden just is so blinded by Gilead,
so she's dangerous in that way.
And then some people are like,
"Oh my god we love her. She's so young and..."
- Right. - She's corrupted,
we need save her," so.
- Just to clear this up, people watching, Sydney's lovely.
It's all pretend, it's all pretend.
If you're in a restaurant and you see her,
it's just pretend.
- Thank you.
- So, we don't want any fights in restaurants, do we?
- No. - Sounds like they were
really gonna go after ya.
Another project, another project.
This could be a really long interview,
but we're gonna have to stop at some point.
Under the Silver Lake?
- Yes. - Yes,
an amazing movie, talk about that.
- Andrew Garfield, incredible.
(Oliver coughs)
- I mean it's not even name dropping,
'cause it's just, it's true.
It's everyone you are working with.
It's getting amazing reviews,
people are talkin' about it, which is a plus.
- Yeah. - In a very positive way.
People could be talking about it in the other way.
- No it's good.
It's set in the seventies,
so fun berets, fur jackets, high heels.
- Okay, you say that like you really love it,
but obviously you have no recollection
of the seventies, that's one thing for sure.
- I enjoyed those days.
- Yeah, you loved those days, aging very well.
Sydney Sweeney, born in '69.
Yeah, so how was that, getting to like,
going to the seventies a little bit?
- It was fun, I, they put extensions
in my hair, crazy outfits.
I was like a call girl in the seventies.
- Right, there you go.
- So, it fun. - Did mum like it?
Did mum help like, see the outfits?
- I sent a few pictures to my mom.
- Okay. - Yeah, it wasn't that bad.
Like short swimsuits and fishnets
and giant fur jackets, so it was more like a playful,
with the colors and the fabrics and-
- Sounds like you love it.
- I did, I really enjoyed it.
It's different than me-
- Right right. - So it was cool
to be able to jump outta that.
- Which is great. - Mhm.
- Perks of the job.
- Yes. - Perks of the job.
Do you have a favorite genre?
'Cause you're jumpin' around, like is there one, do you-
- Love it all.
- You do? - Mhm.
- You don't tend to follow the darkness?
- I mean I like the darkness.
- You do, right, see,
there you go. - But I love to try
and have a foot in every single different genre
and category. - Doin' it all?
- Mhm. - See?
And so, at such a young age.
I mentioned this at the start of the interview,
but over a decade of experience, and very young.
What have you learned along this,
along the way, the journey so far?
What's been the tough part?
- Well the tough part is just growing up in general,
and then you- - Right, I'm still struggling
with that. - Yeah.
- Everyday.
- It was a lot more pressure on who you are,
who you're gonna be, and you really need to know who you are
and be confident and comfortable
in who you are, and not get sucked into-
- Right. - The bad scenes.
And I was really lucky to have my parents
who kept me grounded and school was always first.
So I had that, and that was important to me.
- M'kay.
That's good, that's good.
You're on the right track.
- I hope so.
- We mentioned all the cast's names that we've dropped
between the two of us during this interview.
Who haven't you worked with
that you'd love to work with next?
- Ah, Leonardo DiCaprio.
- No question, didn't even pause,
straight out there, okay. - I know that one, 100%.
- Dreamt, always wanted.
- Look at that, okay, well I could easily see it happening.
- I hope so.
- We're gonna do the THR's top five.
Five easy questions for ya.
- Okay. - You look really worried.
You look like Eden for a minute, and I was like,
"Settle down. They're just questions. There just questions."
Movie you watched as a kid that you wished you read?
- Titanic.
- If I get a Leo reference to every one of these questions.
- You might.
- Okay, this is gonna be weird
because you're young, but first moment
that comes to mind when I say career highlight.
So far.
- Handmaid's Tale.
- That's a good one, yeah.
I figured it might be that,
but you never know, you never know.
- Mhm.
- Those eyes again, it's freaking me out.
Describe your journey as an actress so far in one word.
- Challenging.
- That's a good one.
We're finding that a lot of actresses are using
the word challenging, 'cause it's true.
If you weren't an actress you would be?
- A professional wakeboarder.
- Is that so you could wakeboard with Leo?
Is that a Leo reference too?
Maybe. - If he does, then hey.
- You're in, you're in. - I'm ready.
- One random fact that we don't know about you.
First thing that comes to mind.
- I built a tree house when I was 12.
- You did?
- Yeah, is that a random fact? - On your own?
- Yeah. - It works, it's random
but it's also impressive.
- It was the first thing that came to my mind.
- But actually you built it.
- Yeah. - That is my,
that is, you can tell I don't build anything,
that's how I build, okay.
- I did, I created a pulley system.
I built a little ladder, and then I pulled
the wood up, and I made a tree house.
- Okay, look at that.
- Random fact.
- Sydney Sweeney: actress and tree house builder.
It's a good back-up gig.
- Thanks. - 'Kay.
(whooshing)