Sydney Sweeney, 26, revealed her family was in a major financial crisis before she made it big as an actress in Hollywood. “I watched my parents lose a lot,” the White Lotus star said in the December issue of Women’s Health published November 15. “We filed for bankruptcy,” Sydney added, “and they lost their house back home on the lake. We couldn’t afford life in L.A. We couldn’t afford life anywhere.”
Sydney grew up in Washington but moved to Los Angeles with her family when she was 14 to pursue acting. She helped her parents pay the bills by babysitting, cleaning restaurant bathrooms, and leading tours at Universal Studios, according to her interview.
“It was hard because they were supporting my dream,” Sydney said, “and I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. I didn’t want to fail them. No matter how long it took, I was going to be in a TV show or a movie, and I wasn’t going to stop until something happened.”
Sydney solidified her status as a successful actor thanks to her television roles in Euphoria and The White Lotus. She’s also a lead in the upcoming movies Anyone But You, a rom-com, and Madame Web, a superhero feature. Sydney has used some of her earnings to buy back her great-grandparents’ house on the same lake where her family lost their home, she shared in her interview.
However, as Sydney previously revealed to The Hollywood Reporter in 2022, she still can’t afford to take breaks from acting, even though she’s become one of the most popular young actresses in Hollywood.
“I don’t have someone supporting me,” she said last year. “They don’t pay actors like they used to, and with streamers, you no longer get residuals. The established stars still get paid, but I have to give 5 percent to my lawyer, 10 percent to my agents, 3 percent or something like that to my business manager. I have to pay my publicist every month and that’s more than my mortgage.” The two-time Emmy nominated star also admitted that she does deals with brands like Miu Miu and Armani because she “wouldn’t be able to afford” living in Los Angeles off just her acting salary. “I take deals because I have to,” Sydney said.