Sydney Sweeney marked the conclusion of Euphoria’s third and final season on Sunday with a series of behind-the-scenes images and a concise, three-word caption. The actor has portrayed Cassie Jacobs (née Howard) in Sam Levinson’s acclaimed HBO drama since 2019.
The third season saw her character marry her best friend’s abusive ex-boyfriend, Nate Jacobs (played by Jacob Elordi), while pursuing a career as an adult content creator on OnlyFans. This storyline sparked significant debate among viewers and creators on the platform.
Sweeney’s latest character arc has drawn criticism for its portrayal of sex work and the so-called “humiliation” storylines. In her Instagram post shared on Sunday, the 28-year-old actor posted photos of herself in various racy costumes from this season.
In her caption, she simply wrote: “It’s called… acting.”
The comments section was filled with messages of support for the Housemaid star. One follower wrote: “Acted so good people are HATING.” Portuguese model and actor Sara Sampaio commented: “Carrying the season!!!!!” Another user agreed: “Cassie carried this season single-handedly.”
While the third season of Euphoria divided critics, it received praise from The Independent’s Nick Hilton. In his four-star review, he noted that Sweeney “proves that pin-up fame is not incompatible with genuine acting chops.”
Some of the strongest backlash against Sweeney’s storyline focused on scenes where Cassie wore dog- and baby-themed costumes for adult content. Maitland Ward, an OnlyFans creator who previously appeared in the ABC sitcom Boy Meets World, told Variety last month that the depiction was troubling.
“Given the current climate, dressing her up as a baby to make pornographic OnlyFans content was beyond troubling,” Ward said. “It reinforces stereotypes that sex workers have no moral compass and will do anything for money.”
Ward added: “There’s always this untrue stigma that sex work is synonymous with sex trafficking and abuse. And they just said, let’s make a joke of it. That is so funny. I’m not laughing.”
In a recent interview with The New York Times, Levinson revealed that Sweeney pushed back against his attempts to tone down Cassie’s OnlyFans storyline.
“Well, it’s funny, when I first wrote it, I was like, maybe we shoot all of this and we don’t have any nudity, maybe there’s ways to shoot around certain things?” Levinson said. “And she looked at me and she was like, ‘Are you kidding? I’m playing an OnlyFans model. You’re telling me you’re going to like, skirt around it?’ And I was like, yeah, OK, that’s a fair point.”
“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. There’s a lot of trust that we have.”
“And look, we’re tackling this world of OnlyFans where women are being paid to, like, whisper into an ear-shaped microphone. There is a level of absurdity to it that is just fun, and we’re always trying to come up with ways to make it feel authentic and humorous and dramatic and also speak to the larger wants and wishes of the character.”
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