Sydney Sweeney on the Pressures of Playing a Real-Life NSA Whistleblower in ‘Reality’

Sydney Sweeney has become Hollywood’s go-to on-screen bad girl, with roles like the always-up-to-no-good Olivia on “The White Lotus” and the blackmailing bully Cassie on “Euphoria.”

The Emmy-nominated actress’s newest role, however, is a bit of a departure, as she plays real-life NSA whistleblower Reality Winner, who was sent to prison after leaking classified information about Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

“Extra’s” Melvin Robert recently sat down with Sydney to talk about what it was like for her to play the former American intelligence specialist.

“The weight of reality was on my shoulders,” said Sydney on the pressure she felt about telling the whistleblower’s true story.

“I wanted to make sure that I embodied her as much as I possibly could. It was an amazing, crazy challenge.”

Sydney added that this challenge is what ultimately drew her to the role. “Usually when I’m scared of something, that means I have to do it because I will just grow as an artist and as a person.”

Fortunately for Sweeney, she was able to interact with Reality during the filming process.

“I was able to Zoom with her and text with her,” she told Melvin. “She was very collaborative during the entire process, and I got to know her as a person.”

Sydney, who has earned Emmy nominations for her roles on both “The White Lotus" and "Euphoria," also opened up to “Extra” about the intense interrogation scene between her character and a detective.

“I felt like every single day the wall just kept getting closer and closer and closer, and it just felt more intense the longer we were diving into it,” she explained.