Sydney Sweeney’s move to LA 'was a catalyst' for parents' bankruptcy, divorce
Actress Sydney Sweeney shared how her parents made costly sacrifices in order to help their daughter pursue her passion in Hollywood.
Sydney Sweeney’s parents put their marriage and finances on the line to support their daughter’s Hollywood dreams.
Around the young age of 12, Sweeney convinced her parents to allow her to pursue acting full-time, she explained to Glamour.
To show them she was serious, she made a five-year business plan and delivered it to her parents through a PowerPoint presentation. She was successful in convincing them, but she now admits that the family's eventual move to L.A. "was a catalyst" to their eventual divorce and bankruptcy filing.
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As the "Euphoria" star grew up near the Washington-Idaho border, Sweeney’s parents originally made the costly sacrifice of driving their daughter to Los Angeles for auditions for nearly two years.
The 38-hour round trip mostly led to her only acting as an extra in projects.
Sweeney, 27, opened up about how she was severely bullied by kids in middle school about her acting aspirations to the point where cops were involved.
"When are you going to come home and stop dragging your family to a hell-ridden city?" she recalled people questioning her at the time. "When are you going to stop breaking your family apart and wasting all their money and just go get a real job and have a real life?"
While Sweeney’s parents decided to relocate to Los Angeles for their daughter, "it pushed them to the limit financially and emotionally."
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In 2016, her parents divorced and filed for bankruptcy. Although these hardships deeply impacted Sweeney, she was determined to be a successful actress, as she felt she owed it to her parents.
"There was a moment where I stopped wanting to go home, which made me really sad, because I felt like a failure," she told Glamour.
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"I knew that I could never actually fail, because, I mean, on a very broad scale, my family did lose everything. They did get a divorce. Whether or not that was because of coming here, it definitely was a catalyst for it. So I knew I had to succeed in some capacity so that it wasn’t for nothing."
As the "White Lotus" alum recalled her humble beginnings, she added that her past struggles helped keep her finances in order.
"I come from a family where I saw my parents lose everything, and I am terrified of that. That fear will always be instilled in me. I’m a huge saver. I don’t just go and spend money."
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The Emmy-nominated actress is now proud of her financial accomplishments, which include paying off her mom’s mortgage, flying her grandparents to Italy to visit her on set and buying her uncle’s dream boat for the family lake.
Sweeney was recently spotted in Charlotte, North Carolina, as she looked unrecognizable on the set of her upcoming movie, reportedly titled "Black Bear."
The starlet is slated to play real-life boxer Christy Martin in her next Hollywood project.
