“People feel connected and free to be able to speak about me in whatever way they want because they believe that I’ve signed my life away,”Sydney Sweeneyrecently told Buzzfeed. All this after theAnyone But Youstar’sSNLappearance generated headlines and commentary about the skits in which the actress was provocatively featured. But long before theSNLappearance, there have been a variety of articles published specifically referring to Sweeney to make specific political or cultural points.
“I can’t control what people write or say about me,” Sweeney recently told MovieWeb. “I’m just going to keep being me.”
Which brings us to Sweeney’s latest offering,Immaculate. Sweeney serves as one of the producers of the new psychological horror film, written by Andrew Lobel and directed by Michael Mohan (Everything Sucks!). The dark tale finds the actress playing a young nun who moves to a monastery in the Italian countryside. Nothing is as it appears to be in this holy enclave, and midway through the film, the story truly takes off, sending Sweeney’s naïve Sister Cecilia down an ominous path filled with horror and blood-soaked calamities.
You’ve never seen Sydney Sweeney in such a gritty, gut-wrenching role before. In this exclusive MovieWeb interview, the actress unpacks her experience on the film, chats up her upcoming role inEcho Valley,starring Julianne Moore, and dives into other matters of the heart. Read on.
Sydney Sweeney Was Captivated by Immaculate’s Protagonist
Immaculate
To be sure, Sydney Sweeney’s celebrity status is currently soaring. After a memorable turn in the first season ofThe White Lotus,the actress has consistently been in the public eye. Of course, she starred inThe Handmaid’s Taleback in 2018 and went on to captivate viewers as forever lamenting Cassie inEuphoria —Sweeney recently quipped that Season 3 of the hit drama is vastly different than the first two seasons. And… rememberEverything Sucks!?(Fun.)Madame Web?(Let’s not go there.)
Riding the creative waves with calculated bravura, Sweeney has become a cultural icon. Andher charming turn inAnyone But You,working alongside Glen Powell (Top Gun: Maverick, Twisters), helped make the 2023 comedy a refreshing holiday surprise. The film garnered more than $200 million at the box office.
When asked why it was important for her to tell Cecilia’s story inImmaculate —which finds her character apparently part of an immaculate conception —Sweeney shared:
“I was always really captivated by Cecilia’s story arc. She comes from such a small, quiet, pure space, and she has to go through such unexpected transformations and a journey. She unlocks something within herself that you would never see coming, and I always love when a character has to go to a place that’s so unexpected and a challenge for themselves.”
Proving Herself as an Actress
There was something haunting yet fascinating about watching Sweeney portray Cassie in HBO’sEuphoria,a gritty, angst-ridden teen fever dream that somehow captured the current zeitgeist. Perhaps it was here we first glanced at the depths the actress could plunge, playing a complex character. InImmaculate,Sweeney simply stuns the audience. It’s a rare and certainly raw, visceral, and often primordial portrayal of a woman desperate to save herself.
Most of the grit unfolds in the film’s second half. At one point, Sweeney’s Cecilia is found running away from dangerous men. Her face filled with terror, Sweeney sprints through the countryside in nothing but a blood-soaked nightgown. Unpacking the scene, Sweeney revealed:
“I was freezing cold. It had rained the night before, so the field was soaking wet with a layer of frost, and I was barefoot, and my dress was allcovered in in blood, so it was wet and cold and sticky and freezing out. My feet went numb, but I still outran the guys almost every take, and they kept saying ‘you’ve got to slow down Sydney,’ but Cecilia just, like, would come through me. And I was like, ‘We’ve got to get out of here.’ It was one of the most beautiful shots. It was a difficult shot to do because we wanted it to be a wide runner, but I really fought for pushing on and being able to break it up into little bits and moments.”
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Those Epic Last Scenes and Upcoming Projects
Immaculateisa slow-burn horror film. As Cecilia attempts to find safety from dangerous operatives working within the monastery, the story leads to a climactic ending that will — no exaggeration — blow your mind. Howls of terror. Cries for help. Gut-wrenching wails. Good Lord.
“It was a mixture of so many different guttural, deep, emotional reactions to Cecilia’s entire journey,” Sweeney says of how she conjured up the emotion to play those scenes. “It was fear, anger, it was freedom, it was pain, and it just, it came out in such a ferocious rage.”
Immaculate Review: One Hell of a Blood-Soaked Sister Act
Sydney Sweeney is mesmerizing in this slow-burning horror film that requires patience. But the payoff is big.
Experience it for yourself. In the meantime, she said she’s still “searching” for the “one great role,” and remarked that it would be “cool” to star in a superhero film. Beyond that, there’s been much talk about the upcoming film,Echo Valley,in which Sweeneycostars alongside Julianne Moore. The gripping tale, directed by Michael Pearce (Beast), finds Sweeney showing up on her mother’s doorstep, freaked out and covered in somebody else’s blood. (We’re seeing a theme here.) Jarring, to say the least, especially for Moore’s character, who is coping with her own mysterious tragedy.
“Oh my God, Julian Moore is absolutely incredible,” Sweeney gushed when asked about the project. “I’m so excited for people to see this movie. Michael Pearce, the director, is phenomenal. He’s such a kind individual. She [Moore] is truly just so sweet and so amazing and being able to work opposite her was a dream come true.”
Produced by Black Bear Pictures, Fifty-Fifty Films, and Middle Child Pictures, experienceImmaculatein theaters on March 22, from NEON. you’re able to watch the trailer below:
