Sydney Sweeney Says Her ‘SNL’ Hosting Debut “Was Terrifying” – SXSW

Anthony D'Alessandro
·2-min read

“It’s good to face fears.” That’s Sydney Sweeney’s wisdom about doing live television, specifically her hosting duties recently on Saturday Night Live.

The two-time Emmy-nominated actress made her comments during a Q&A panel here at SXSW. Sweeney is in Austin for the world premiere of her Neon horror film Immaculate, which she stars in and produced. It plays at the Paramount Theatre tonight.

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“I knew I would be terrified,” said Sweeney about agreeing to do SNL. “I wanted to do it.”

“I think it’s important to do things that scare you,” she said.

“The whole entire SNL experience, it was a challenge, it was terrifying.”

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Among the sketches the Euphoria actress appeared in was one where she was the top waitress at Hooters, hands down. Another entailed her Anyone But You co-star Glen Powell making a cameo in a sketch and stealing her from a bad dinner date. Others involved her hitting on Air Bud at high school and a short in which she has the hots for openly gay SNL star Bowen Yang.

In a lengthy discussion about her young career, Sweeney gave a shout-out to Sharp Objects and The Handmaid’s Tale as projects that catapulted to her beyond co-star and featured-extra status. While she has lightning in a bottle now, the actress shared with the jam-packed Austin Convention Center auditorium that it took her 10 years to get her agents.

Talking about highs and lows with auditioning, Sweeney dished, “sometimes casting directors aren’t your friends.”

“I’ve had casting directors eat food while (I’m) in an audition, or take a phone call, or not look up from the page.”

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