"Explain this girl to me": Hollywood producer Carol Baum shares her honest opinion on Sydney Sweeney

American producer Carol Baum recently expressed her thoughts on the young rising star Sydney Sweeney. The 26-year-old actress who got her breakthrough role as Cassie Howard in HBO’s Euphoria has become Hollywood’s ‘It’ girl.

Sydney’s popularity further skyrocketed following the release of Anyone But You featuring Glen Powell. However, Carol Baum wondered the reason behind Sydney’s meteoric rise to fame.

Last week, Baum attended a screening of Dead Ringers — a 1988 film she produced. After that, she had an interview with Janet Maslin — a film critic with the New York Times, where she did not hold back on her criticism of the Euphoria star.

Baum who teaches at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, shared she asked her students about the 26-year-old actress. The producer told Maslin:

“I said to my class, ‘Explain this girl to me. She's not pretty, she can't act. Why is she so hot?’”

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Carol Baum calls Sydney Sweeney's Anyone But You "unwatchable"

Carol Baum, who has produced over 30 films including Father of the Bride, Dead Ringers, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, told film critic Janet Maslin:

“There's an actress who everybody loves now - Sydney Sweeney.”

She continued:

“I don't get Sydney Sweeney. I was watching on the plane Sydney Sweeney's movie because I wanted to watch it.”

Baum told Janet and the audience, she was curious about who Sydney was and why everyone was talking about her. Referring to Anyone But You, she added:

“I watched this unwatchable movie- sorry to people who love this movie - [this] romantic comedy where they hate each other.”

Baum said when she asked her students why Sydney was a highly sought-after actress, nobody had an answer. However, she was asked:

"Well if you could get your movie made because she was in it, would you do it?"

Carol Baum shared her response:

"I said, 'Well that's a really good question...that's a very hard question to answer because we all want to get the movie made and who walks away from a green light? Nobody I know. Your job is to get the movie made.'"

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Sydney Sweeney's acting credits so far

Before gaining mainstream recognition as Cassie Howard in Euphoria, Sydney worked on several other projects. She appeared on popular shows including Criminal Minds, 90210, Grey’s Anatomy, and Pretty Little Liars.

In 2018, Sydney starred in the Netflix comedy-drama Everything Sucks, which brought her some recognition at the time. She concurrently filmed the 2018 thriller series Sharp Objects. She was later seen as Eden Spencer in Hulu’s dystopian drama The Handmaid’s Tale.

Sydney briefly appeared in Quentin Tarantino's acclaimed 2019 movie Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood. In the same year, she shot to fame through Euphoria and has since become one of the most desired prospects in Hollywood. Sydney earned two Emmy nominations for her role as Olivia Mossbacher in The White Lotus and Euphoria.

Aside from her most talked-about movie Anyone But You, she was among the main characters in Sony Corporation's Madame Web starring Dakota Johnson.

Sydney Sweeney's most recent work is the psychological horror film Immaculate which she co-produced.