With ‘Anyone But You,’ Sydney Sweeney takes control

Over the past few years, Sydney Sweeney has firmly established herself as one of the most captivating young actors working in film and television.

The 26-year-old Washingtonian initially came to prominence for her role in “Euphoria.” Her reputation was then enhanced by her turn in the first season of “The White Lotus.” She even earned nominations at the 2022 Emmy Awards for both performances.

At the same time, Sweeney has been popping up on the big screen, too, appearing in Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” as well as leading “The Voyeurs” and “Reality,” her work in the latter being met with particular praise.

There’s every chance that Sweeney’s popularity will soon explode to another stratosphere. Early next year she’ll debut as Julia Carpenter/Spider-Woman in “Madame Web,” but before then she stars in the romantic comedy “Anyone But You.” No wonder then that Sweeney has decided to take more control over the projects she wants to star in by starting up her own production company, Fifty-Fifty Films.

This was how she initially came across Ilana Wolpert and Will Gluck’s script for “Anyone But You,” which revolves around Sweeney and Glen Powell as two people who despise but can’t seem to avoid one another while they’re on vacation in Sydney for a wedding. When their exes turn up, they pretend to be a couple.

“I’d been reading a lot of books and spec scripts,” Sweeney says. “This came across my table and I just loved it. I loved that it was a modern take on a Shakespearean story (‘Much Ado About Nothing’), and the way it was written just really caught my eye.”

Sweeney was drawn to “Anyone But You” because it was “a big concept full of big set pieces,” which she believes is very different to modern romantic comedies that have “felt smaller.” She added, “I felt like I was reading an early 2000s rom-com. It just made me laugh and cry. I want to bring people to the movie theaters and make them laugh and cry together. Hopefully they walk out wanting to fall in love or feel even more in love.”

After falling for the script, Sweeney reached out to Wolpert, before embarking on the long creative trek of getting the film made and released. “I then went on the journey of putting the whole package together. I cast the film, hired the director and sold the project to Sony.”

The real origin point for Sweeney’s journey to movie stardom, though, is Spokane, where she was born and raised. “My dad is from the Seattle area. We lived in and around the outskirts of Seattle, in Edgewood, for three years before moving back to Spokane. My dad’s side of the family still lives over in Seattle. We’d go and see them every weekend.”

It was here where Sweeney’s interest in acting first emerged. “I would put pretend shows on for them and my parents when I was little. I had imaginary friends and would build all these stories and worlds.”

Soon enough, Sweeney’s parents were driving her to Seattle for auditions in commercials, shorts, student movies and movies. As she had more and more success, they had to then drive her down to Los Angeles. By the time she was 14, they’d moved down permanently to L.A. to aid her career. “Most of my life was in Spokane. I still came up home every chance we had and every summer. I still live up there now. It’s really special to me. … It’s such a huge part of who I am.”

Sweeney’s acting accomplishments mean she’s had less and less time to spend in Washington. Especially at the start of 2023, when she was shooting “Anyone But You” in Australia alongside Powell, who was always her first choice as her romantic comedy sparring partner.

“I really wanted to bring back that hunk of a romantic-comedy leading man. ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ really set him apart for me. I hopped on a Zoom with him, we met in person a few times, I pitched him the script, he read it, he’s a die-hard rom-com fan, and this really resonated with him.”

When it comes her chemistry with Powell, Sweeney insists it’s just natural and has been there since day one when they “hit it off,” adding, “It’s one of those things that you can’t really plan or force. We just have a really fun time.”

Filming in Australia only added to the excitement, and Sweeney is hopeful that it’ll prove to be contagious for audiences. “Whenever you’re filming on such a beautiful location like Sydney, Australia, it feels like camp.”

With so many possibilities seemingly on the horizon, Sweeney is only interested in replicating the feeling she had while making “Anyone But You.”

“I want to find things that interest me. That are exciting, new and fun. That challenge me artistically. That is what spikes my interest. That is what makes me really want to go for it.”