Sam Levinson Praises ‘Game’ Sydney Sweeney Over Euphoria OnlyFans Scenes

Euphoria creator Sam Levinson has said that Sydney Sweeney had a gung-ho approach to her controversial storyline in the show’s most recent season.

Throughout season three, Sam has spoken out in support of Sydney’s performance, after scenes depicting her Euphoria character turning to OnlyFans modelling to help pay for her elaborate wedding raised eyebrows among fans and critics.

Some even went as far as comparing the Emmy-nominated actor’s more graphic scenes to a “humiliation ritual” for the star, as her character took part in increasingly more extreme OnlyFans shoots.

As the discourse has raged on, Sydney has mostly kept schtum, although Sam did have some things to say during an interview on the New York Times’ Popcast podcast.

He recalled: “When I first wrote [Sydney’s season three storyline], I thought, ‘Well, maybe, we shoot all of this, and we don’t have any nudity’.

“I was [telling her], ‘maybe, there’s ways to shoot around certain [things]’ – and she looked at me, and she was like, ‘Are you kidding? I’m playing an OnlyFans model!’.”

Praising Sydney, he added: “I think she’s a totally fearless actor. She’s also just wonderfully professional, and shows up just game every day.

“I adore working with her, because there’s such a flexibility in terms of the performance.”

Sam previously weighed in on Cassie’s OnlyFans storyline before the new season had even begun airing.

“What we wanted to always find is the other layer of absurdity that we’re able to tie into it so that we’re not too inside of her fantasy or illusion,” he insisted, pointing out the use of lighting and the inclusion of Cassie’s housekeeper as a makeshift photographer was intended to provide a “gnarly and jarring” contrast between the character’s more supposedly glamorous moments.

He added: “We wanted to capture what she’s trying to show the audience and be inside of it, but then also pull back wider and see how depressing it is.”

Euphoria is now streaming on Now and Sky.