Up And Up And Up

Along with Hollywood's hottest, Sydney Sweeney has been tapped for a role in Tarantino's new film, once upon a time in Hollywood. She talks to Alexandra English about keeping secrets, A-listers who feel like family and being on a first-name basis with brad.

- Alexandra English

SYDNEY SWEENEY’S EXCITEMENT IS PALPABLE. Her voice is punctuated with exclamation marks and, at times, it’s like she’s talking in ALL CAPS. It’s infectious, and her sense of awe about her life is understandable (if not relatable). Just nine years ago she was a 12-year-old trying to convince her parents to let her audition for the indie flick that was filming in her small Washington State town. Now, on the eve of turning 21, she’s on a first-name basis with Brad, Leo and Margot.

“It’s been a really crazy journey,” she says down the line from Los Angeles, emphasis on the “really”. Filming for Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time In Hollywood has wrapped; her moody narrative feature Clementine will premiere at New York’s Tribeca Film Festival a couple of days after we speak; earlier this year she starred in Big Time Adolescence with Pete Davidson; and she’s already onto her next project, HBO’s series Euphoria, with Zendaya. Last year, there was The Handmaid’s Tale – she played Eden, the pious child-bride of the Commander’s Guardian, Nick – and Sharp Objects, where she played Alice, a troubled teen in a mental health facility. There was also her breakout as Emaline (a drama club student) in the Netflix series Everything Sucks! Scrolling through her IMDb profile, every show is familiar, though Sweeney might not have been when they aired: 90210, Grey’s Anatomy, Criminal Minds, The Bling Ring, Pretty Little Liars.