This week, actress and producer Sydney Sweeney talks to WSJ.’s Lane Florsheim about her daily routine, her favorite high intensity workout, and only needing two hours of sleep, though she’s never even tried coffee. Check out excerpt below:

 

The actress and producer talks about watching nun videos on TikTok to prepare for ‘Immaculate,’ the high-intensity workout she favors and her reading goals.

Sydney Sweeney had her breakout on HBO’s teen drama “Euphoria” playing Cassie Howard, a lovesick high schooler on the constant verge of a breakdown. In the years since, the 26-year-old actress and producer has explored other genres, starring in the political thriller “Reality,” Marvel’s “Madame Web” and “Anyone but You,” the highest-grossing rom-com since “Crazy Rich Asians.”

Now, Sweeney is delving into horror as Cecilia, an American nun who joins a secretly sinister Italian convent in the new film “Immaculate.” The movie, a bonkers body-horror film, is a Sweeney passion project a decade in the making. After she auditioned for it at age 16, the production got shelved.

“There are so many projects that are absolutely incredible that never end up getting made,” Sweeney said. She decided to take “Immaculate” into her own hands: She asked her agents to track down its writer, Andrew Lobel, and worked with him to revise the script. She brought on “White Lotus” producer David Bernad; they got financing for the film and hired director Michael Mohan.

“I put the whole project together,” she said.

Sweeney, who was born in Spokane, Wash., lives in Los Angeles with her dog, Tank, and her fiancé, Jonathan Davino. She has a production company, Fifty-Fifty Films, and restores vintage cars for fun. Here, she discusses her minimal beauty routine, how she unwinds and the only thing she splurges on.

On what time she wakes up on Mondays, and the first thing she does after waking up: 

“I usually wake up around 7:30. First I hug my dog, Tank, and we cuddle. Then I’ll go and wash my face, brush my teeth and get ready to jump start the day.”

On her admission that she only needs two hours sleep a night:

“I sleep however many hours I get in a night, but I’m known for being able to function off of very, very little for a very long amount of time.”

On her coffee and breakfast: 

“I’ve never tried coffee before. I just drink water. For breakfast, I like a berry bowl. Maybe some granola, bacon, a croissant, but I always go to berries.”

On her exercise routine: 

“I like this place called SolidCore. It’s a full-body high-intensity workout but on a reformer, and it’s been killing my ass. I love it.”

On her beauty routine: 

“I’m pretty simple if I’m not working. I’m either a blush-and-mascara kind of girl or nothing at all.”

On the research she did for “Immaculate”:

“I definitely found myself on nun TikTok, which is a vast, vast place to be.”

On the hardest or riskiest thing she had to do physically for the role:

“When I’m running through the field trying to escape and it was freezing cold and I was covered in blood, it had been raining prior and the fields were sopping wet. There was ice on the ground. I was just running through anything and everything, the field was not cleared for the safety of my feet, which I enjoy because then it just feels more real for me. My feet were so frozen that I couldn’t feel rocks or sticks or anything slicing my feet open. It was crazy.”

On what else is in the pipeline for her Fifty-Fifty Films:

“I have a movie in development with Universal that I’m really excited for. Then “Barbarella” and a few other projects. I like to read books and get the rights, then package and develop and put it all together.”

On what she’s reading:

“I haven’t started a new book since I got back from Australia the second time [to promote “Anyone but You”]. Once I’m done with the press tour for “Immaculate,” I’m going to try to read a book a week.”

On what she does to relax and unwind: 

“I love to do a face mask. I like these 111Skin face masks. And chill on the couch with Tank and read a book.”

On her hobby of restoring vintage cars, and whether she’s currently working on one: 

“I have a car I’m about to start. I don’t want to spoil what it is yet because I’m going to post it on my TikTok, but I’ve had it for a while. I’ve been saving it, and it’s going to be my project this year while I film “Euphoria.”

On a genre or type of project she hasn’t gotten to work on yet that she’d like to:

“Fantasy.”

On her favorite splurge: 

“I like to splurge on parties. I like to host parties for my friends and family.”

On anywhere she likes to pinch pennies:

“I love a good deal. Anything in life other than parties, I will be penny pinching.”

On the one piece of advice that’s guided her: 

“Don’t take no for an answer.”

Source: WSJ. Magazine

Immaculate is currently in theaters.