Sydney Sweeney marked the end of Euphoria’s third and final season Sunday with a carousel of behind-the-scenes images and a pointed, three-word caption
Sweeney has played Cassie Jacobs (née Howard) in Sam Levinson’s star-making HBO drama since 2019.
The third season saw her character marry her best friend’s abusive ex-boyfriend, Nate Jacobs (Jacob Elordi), while on the quest to become viral as an adult content creator on OnlyFans.
Her latest character arc has drawn criticism from viewers and OnlyFans creators alike for its depiction of sex work and what fans have described as “humiliation” storylines.
In her Instagram post shared Sunday, Sweeney, 28, shared photos of her in some of Cassie’s various, racy costumes from this season.
In her caption, she wrote simply: “It’s called… acting.”
In the comments section, swathes of followers shared messages of support for the Housemaid star.
“Acted so good people are HATING,” one person wrote.
Portuguese model and actor Sara Sampaio wrote: “Carrying the season!!!!!”
“Cassie carried this season single handedly,” another agreed.
The third season of Euphoria divided critics but earned praise from The Independent’s Nick Hilton. In his four-star review, he wrote that Sweeney “proves that pin-up fame is not incompatible with genuine acting chops.”
Some of the strongest backlash against Sweeney’s storyline centered on scenes in which Cassie dressed in dog- and baby-themed costumes for adult content.
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Maitland Ward, an OnlyFans creator who previously starred in the ABC sitcom Boy Meets World, told Variety last month: “In the climate we’re in, that they dressed her up as a baby to make pornographic OnlyFans content was beyond troubling and again serves to perpetuate stereotypes that sex workers have no moral compass and that they will do anything for money.”
Ward continued: “And there’s always this untrue stigma that somehow 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 new interview with The New York Times, Levinson revealed Sweeney pushed back on 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? 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.”
