Sydney Sweeney Reveals the Turning Point in Her Lifelong Journey to Confidence

Celebrities are often held on a pedestal, and sometimes we forget that, just like us, A-listers have insecurities, too. Actress Sydney Sweeney recently opened up with Us Weekly about her lack of confidence as a young adult, and the 28-year-old Anyone But You star revealed that one role in particular really jumpstarted her confidence.

“ ... I never felt confident,” Sweeney told the outlet of her youth. “I never had anything I felt good in, and I just wanted to hide. It wasn’t until [I played] Cassie in Euphoria that I started realizing it’s actually powerful to be confident; our bodies are incredible. We should embrace [them] and feel really good in our skin.”

The series, which premiered on HBO in June 2019, stars Sweeney (as Cassie Howard), alongside a powerhouse cast, including Zendaya (who plays Rue Bennett), Hunter Schafer (as Jules Vaugh), Alexa Demie (who portrays Maddy Perez), Jacob Elordi (as Nate Jacobs) and Maude Apatow (who plays Lexi Howard). The show’s second season premiered in January 2022, and after more than a four-year hiatus, the award-winning program will make its long-awaited return for Season 3 on April 12.

In the forthcoming season of the Sam Levinson project, a five-year time jump finds the show’s characters leaving behind high school and are instead navigating life in their early- to mid-20s. Sweeney has promised fans that Season 3 of Euphoria will be “unhinged,” with some “crazy” and “flawed” character moments to come from Cassie.

While Sweeney’s figure is often the subject of tabloid fodder, the Hollywood star has long been open about topics like plastic surgery (she denied ever getting work done in an Allure interview last December) and has spoken out about using her body as a vessel for her craft as an actress.

“I’ve always looked at a woman’s body as a very beautiful, powerful tool,” she told GQ in a December 2025 interview. “I transformed my body for [2025 sport-drama film] Christy. Being able to change my body and appearance to be able to become other characters is a challenge, but then also really amazing at the same time, that we’re capable of doing stuff like that and being able to tell stories through our body. And I’ve always looked at it that way. I’ve always looked at it as my body is another tool to tell this story.”

More celebrity news