Sydney Sweeney and Zendaya have been amazing friends for a long time. Now, with being co-stars in Euphoria, that friendship has only blossomed more. Although the extreme n*dity did put off Sweeney at first, she decided to take the chance in the end, and it paid off magnificently.
With tremendous critical and audience appraisal for her performance as Cassie Howard, she won the heart of many despite her initial doubts. However, even with the show’s sky-high success, and recognition for her performance, it seems there is one place where she was left wanting.
It seems that the wage difference between the two friends is way too high with Zendaya earning about twice as much. Given Zendaya is not only the main lead but also the executive producer for the show, it might actually be fair for all her hard work. Well, only time will tell what happens next with the filming date for season 3 looming closer every day.
Sydney Sweeney’s Euphoria Journey
Sydney Sweeney as mentioned above was a bit iffy about the nude scenes in Euphoria, something she almost gave up the role completely for. However, she once spoke in an interview, saying how she convinced herself by thinking how a 17-year-old girl, would actually behave in that situation. “if I was a 17-year-old girl “and I was having s*x with my boyfriend, ‘I would get naked.’ And it’s a real scene. It’s not sugar-coated. It’s not glamorized. It’s not covered up,” she elaborated.
According to her, Euphoria tells a certain story and she needed to think like the people who are actually going through it to “bring justice to that realness.” This is something, Zendaya, playing Rue Bennett in the show and being the executive producer spoke about as well, “The fact that the story was so personal and that it couldn’t have been written by anyone who hadn’t lived it, people are going to respond to it.”
She went on to explain further how the show’s writer Sam Levinson put words to feelings people have a hard time vocalizing, be it depression or other mental health issues. She reflected Sweeney’s words by saying that she feels lucky that has been able to “humanize” what her character is going through, and this is something a lot of people can indeed relate to.
Sydney Sweeney’s Euphoria income
According to a report from February 2023, the difference between Sydney Sweeney’s and Zendaya’s wages is quite the gulf. Whereas Zendaya being the headliner and executive producer is expected to earn around $1 million per episode, Sweeney on the other hand earned around just over a third of it. Reportedly, Sweeney’s income from all 13 episodes combined is about $325 thousand, from the two seasons of the show.
Although exact numbers from previous seasons of the show are not publicly known, given this huge gap in the upcoming season alone and Zendaya’s status as the executive producer she is expected to have made at least twice the amount that Sweeney has.
It will be interesting to see if such a huge gap persists even in later seasons as people are already aware of the difference. Especially as filming for the third season, which is rumored to take the show five years into the future is expected to start soon.
Euphoria season 2 is available for streaming on HBO Max.
Source: Parade
