Sydney Sweeney is everywhere these days–from her stellar performance on The White Lotus to the vibrantly messy Cassie on Euphoria, Sweeney has built herself a tiny empire of both TikTok followers and people who are into antique car repair. Turns out the two interests can co-exist!
Sweeney recently spoke to Cosmo about her relationship with social media, both good and bad. “I would love to share my normal life so that people can see that it’s not all glamour. But I can’t because one, I like my privacy, and two, social media is another platform for business. Sharing my life on it could go against the integrity of the business and brand I’m trying to create.” The brand Sweeney has been recently trying to create is an impressive car builder.
The Euphoria actress is known on TikTok for her car repair videos, which show Sweeney restoring a vintage 1969 red Bronco in overalls and hot pink gloves.
She discussed her new-found love of cars, saying she wanted to build one. “Anyone can go buy a brand-new car, but not everyone can have something rare that has history. In quarantine, my creative juices were overflowing. I was very bored and I got addicted to going to auction sites for cars. I wanted a Bronco so badly. But I wanted to build one so that when I drove it and people said ‘cool car,’ I could be like ‘yeah, thanks’ and know I made it.”
@syds_garage finished the rear suspension!
This is a rare glimpse into Sweeney’s personal life, as she tries to remain as private as possible due to excessive harassment on the internet. “I have this formula that I try to follow. I’ll post about my work, I’ll post about fashion because when the hell else would I look that good? And then I try to sprinkle in a Syd post once in a while.” She mentioned how she recently trended on Twitter, and went on an Instagram rant about how horrible that was.
“I’m reading all these comments saying so much stupid stuff about my appearance. I went on social media and cried. People were like, ‘Oh, she’s just looking for attention.’ People literally kill themselves over stuff like this. And people just don’t give a fuck. I went on for, like, maybe 12 seconds. I did not think anyone was going to record it. I just needed to let it out. Then it just went everywhere and it became its own beast.”
So, instead of being vulnerable on social media, Sweeney decides to maintain a perfect balance of hand-picked dog pics and vintage car repair videos. Sometimes that’s all the fans need.