Sydney Sweeney creates memories for her movie characters

28 May 2023

Sydney Sweeney builds “character books” for every character she plays listing their possible memories, relationships, and failures.

Sydney Sweeney creates histories for her movie characters

The 25-year-old actress portrays Reality Winner, a former translator for the NSA (National Security Council) who was hailed for leaking information, in drama film ‘Reality’ and though she was portraying a real person in the film – which is based on the genuine transcripts of her FBI interrogation – she tackled the project in the same way as anything else she works on.

She told Big Issue magazine: “I approach all my characters in a very similar manner, where I build these character books for them.

“I build their entire life from the day they’re born to the first page of the script.

“Their memories, a timeline of their life, relationships.

“I did that for Reality as well, because I look at all my characters as real people that lie in a TV screen.

“I just had someone to actually bounce off of for her timeline and memories.”

But Sydney admitted it was meeting the real Reality that truly unlocked the project for her.

She said: “When I first read it, I felt like I was in this box. I was trying to figure out how to find the freedom within it, because I’m usually very free with my dialogue and characters.

“And then after I actually spoke with Reality, I went back and reread it and I saw so much of her in it.

“It just flowed and rolled off my tongue so much easier.

“I saw her humour, I saw where she was trying to completely redirect a conversation.

“It completely switched in my mind.”