Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
If you were to walk down the street and poll random people by asking them, “Who is Sydney Sweeney?” — virtually everyone under the age of 50 would know who she was, and answer that she’s an actress. But then if you were to ask them what, exactly, they know her from, that answer is a bit more complicated.
The concept of a sex symbol in Hollywood is certainly nothing new, from the golden age likes of Marilyn Monroe, Ava Gardner, Rita Hayworth, Elizabeth Taylor, and so on — to the modern likes of Angelina Jolie, Scarlett Johansson, and Margot Robbie. The difference, however, is those actresses wielded their power as sex symbols in tandem to their acting prowess, not ahead of. In a way, by leaning so aggressively into her looks, Sydney Sweeney is putting the cart before the horse, which could eventually leave her rudderless when the momentum of youth and beauty is no longer carrying her downhill.
You see, while Sydney Sweeney is certainly an actress, that’s merely a moonlighting gig these days. Her real job is being a celebrity. How else do you explain the amount of brands she’s attached herself to over the years, or the fact that you hear more about her personal life than her performances? Or that she has 26 million followers on Instagram, but was only able to drive roughly 180,000 people to the theaters to see her Oscar-bait boxing drama Christy? Or that she’s ingratiated herself with the likes of Jeff Bezos (a financial backer of Syrn) and Donald Trump?
Is Sydney Sweeney still an actress? Or is she now just a celebrity spokeswoman sex symbol?
It’s simple, really: people don’t care about Sydney Sweeney the artist or performer. What they care about is the *idea* of Sydney Sweeney, and that’s a modern reinvention of the Hollywood “sex symbol.”
Sweeney’s latest venture, her lingerie brand Syrn, is an obvious progression given that she clearly learned long ago that some things never change, especially when it comes to how well sex sells. She has a god-given gift and she’s damn well been using it: credit to her. But all of these entrepreneurial endeavors are in direct contrast with what’s supposedly her primary career, and that’s being an actress.
Think about why so many people consider Leonardo DiCaprio to be among the best actors in the world? Because we know absolutely nothing about him. Meanwhile, Sweeney is plastering images of herself in lingerie on the internet alongside puns like “Come inside.” Now, believe me, as a heterosexual male, I appreciate the content, Syd — but as a movie journalist and an observer of Hollywood star behavior, I find myself mystified by what Sweeney is actually trying to achieve. She’s got the potential career of someone who could be the next Scarlett Johnasson, but the apparent business strategy of an Instagram model with nothing more to offer than their looks.
the original photo on the Syrn website is not blurred, of course
The more brands and products she attaches herself to, the more she actualizes herself to her fanbase, meaning they’ll carry those associations into her performances. When someone goes to see one of her movies, do they see a character? Probably not. More likely is that they see “Sydney Sweeney playing a nanny” or “Sydney Sweeney playing a boxer” or “Sydney Sweeney playing a nun”, and so on. And this association with her persona will only strengthen the more forward-facing, product-hawking she becomes.
Despite being in Hollywood for less than a decade, she’s already worked with brands such as American Eagle, Armani Beauty, Laneige, Miu Miu, Tory Burch, David Yurman, Guess, Cotton On, Parade, Samsung, Ford, Baskin-Robbins, Dr. Squatch, HeyDude, Bai beverages, and Kérastase. Are these the actions of an actress or a spokeswoman?
Now, it’s entirely possible that Sweeney just wants to become a billionaire, and if so, that’s fair game. But her involvement in projects such as Christy and Eden and Americana and Echo Valley — four of the five films she starred in last year — suggests she’s someone (or was someone) in pursuit of artistic merit. That desire, however, may have waned in recent years, at least based on her penchant for product promotion and shift into IP-backed projects such as Split Fiction, Barbarella, I Pretended to Be a Missing Girl, Gundam, and Custom of the Country.
Perhaps Sweeney can break the mold and simultaneously sell bras and win Oscars. But if history is an evidence worth relying on, those two pursuits are diametrically opposed. Maybe the launch of Syrn is Sweeney’s way of saying she’s made up her mind about which route she wants to take: Hollywood was just her launchpad — now, she’s in it for the money.