Sydney Sweeney Says Nude Scenes Don't Make Her Nervous

For Sydney Sweeney, there are no reservations when it comes to portraying a character’s bare truth. The actor has shed her clothes for movies like Anyone But You and The Voyeurs, and most famously, she’s pushed the envelope on the explicit series Euphoria. While many people may shy away from such exposure, nude scenes aren’t something that fazes Sweeney. At least, not anymore.

“I don’t get nervous,” Sweeney told W Magazine on June 9 when asked about acting while naked. “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.”

While Sweeney is fearless about filming risqué moments now, it was a process to reach this point. The actor has made comments about avoiding senseless nudity in the past, and noted to W that she still has “really bad stage fright.” She credits her most daring character of all with helping her to develop her resolve when it comes to intimate scenes. “I have gained so much confidence and self-awareness through Cassie,” Sweeney said, referencing her Euphoria character.

In the past, Sweeney has credited Euphoria showrunner Sam Levinson with cutting nude scenes that she didn’t feel made sense for her character. “There are moments where Cassie was supposed to be shirtless and I would tell Sam, ‘I don’t really think that’s necessary here,’” Sweeney told The Independent in 2022. “He was like, ‘OK, we don’t need it’. I’ve never felt like Sam has pushed it on me or was trying to get a nude scene into an HBO show. When I didn’t want to do it, he didn’t make me.”

However, the actor has also had to film unnecessary nude scenes, which made her extremely uncomfortable. “I’ve had experiences where I want to go home and scrub myself completely raw because I feel disgusting,” Sweeney said in the 2022 interview. She singled out one experience where the nudity felt gratuitous. “I didn’t feel comfortable with my cast mate or the crew, and I just didn’t feel like my character would be doing it. That made me even more self-conscious. I didn’t feel like I was able to speak up.”