Sydney Sweeney has been candid about what goes into stripping down for nude scenes in Euphoria and other projects.
After Euphoria premiered in 2019, Sweeney, who plays Cassie, opened up about the downsides of being naked on screen.
“I don’t think as many people took me seriously in Euphoria because I took my shirt off,” she told Cosmopolitan in February 2022. “When I saw The Voyeurs for the first time, I wondered if I’d done too much. I researched celebrities who have done nude scenes, trying to make myself feel better.”
Sweeney continued: “There are hour-long compilations of world-famous male actors with nude scenes who win Oscars and get praised for that work. But the moment a woman does it, it degrades them. They’re not actresses, they just take off their tops so they can get a role. There’s such a double standard and I really hope that I can have a part in changing that.”
In addition to the hit HBO series, Sweeney has taken risks in The Voyeurs, The Housemaid, Anyone But You and more. Keep scrolling for Sweeney’s most candid quotes about onscreen nudity:
Sydney Sweeney Compares Nude Scenes to Real Life
Sweeney told Teen Vogue in March 2022 about the risqué scenes in Euphoria, saying, “We all get naked in real life. We show this character’s life and what they’re going through. Cassie’s body is a different form of communication for her.”
Sydney Sweeney Wants to Feel Comfortable on Set
Sweeney praised Euphoria creator Sam Levinson for supporting her behind the scenes.
“Sam is amazing,” she told The Independent in January 2022. “There are moments where Cassie was supposed to be shirtless and I would tell Sam, ‘I don’t really think that’s necessary here.’ [And] he was like, ‘OK, we don’t need it.’ When I didn’t want to do [a nude scene], he didn’t make me.”
How Sydney Sweeney Put Distance Between the Scenes
Sweeney confessed to Cosmopolitan in 2022 that she viewed her nude scenes as the character getting naked, saying, “I’m so disconnected from it. When I get tagged in Cassie’s … nudes, it feels like me looking at their nudes, not Sydney’s nudes.”
The actress went on to explain that “when you film one of these scenes, it’s so technical and not romantic,” adding, “There are people staring at you, pads between you; there’s nipple covers and weird sticker thongs all up your butt.”
Sydney Sweeney’s Approach to Telling Her Loved Ones
“My mom visited me on set at the time, so she knew the story and I talked to her a lot about it — my dad didn’t,” Sweeney told CBS Sunday in 2023 about filming Euphoria. “Yeah, I didn’t prepare my dad. At all.”
Sweeney weighed in on her family’s reaction to her racy projects.
“I mean, how do you bring it up in conversation? And also, when I talk to my dad, it’s usually not about work. We talk, like, father-daughter conversations. He decided he was going to watch it, without telling me, with his parents,’” she explained. “My dad and my grandpa turned it off and walked out. But my grandma is a big supporter of mine. She’s a big fan of mine. Actually I bring her, usually, all over the world to my different sets and I make her an extra.”
Sydney Sweeney Comparing Nudity to Power
In a 2025 interview with W Magazine, Sweeney reflected on not experiencing stage fright, saying, “I don’t get nervous. [I] gained so much confidence and self-awareness on Euphoria. I think that the female body is a very powerful thing. And I’m telling my character’s story, so I owe it to them to tell it well and to do what needs to be done.”
