Hollywood producer Carol Baum hits out at Sydney Sweeney: “She can’t act”
Hollywood producer Carol Baum has criticised Sydney Sweeney, claiming that “she can’t act”.
Baum made the comments in a conversation with New York Times film critic Janet Maslin following a screening of her 1988 film Dead Ringers, beginning: “There’s an actress who everybody loves now – Sydney Sweeney.”
“I don’t get Sydney Sweeney,” she continued. “I was watching on the plane Sydney Sweeney’s movie [Anyone But You] because I wanted to watch it. I wanted to know who she is and why everybody’s talking about her.”
The producer, whose credits include Father of the Bride and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, went on to call the rom-com “unwatchable”. Baum, who teaches at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, apparently asked her class: “Explain this girl to me. She’s not pretty, she can’t act. Why is she so hot?”
“Nobody had an answer but then the question was asked, “Well if you could get your movie made because she was in it, would you do it?”, she continued. “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.”
Sweeney addressed criticism from the right-wing media in our profile of the star, where she told us: “There’s not anything I can do.” When asked if it wants to make her stay off the Internet, she replied: “Um, no, I think it’s important to be aware of everything and then use that information however I may well. But I’m just being me, that’s all.”
The actress also addressed her role in box office flop Madame Webin a separate profile, saying: “I was just hired as an actress in it, so I was just along for the ride for whatever was going to happen.”
She later added that she did it to “build a relationship with Sony“: “To me that film was a building block, it’s what allowed me to build a relationship with Sony. Without doing Madame Web I wouldn’t have a relationship with the decision-makers over there.
“Everything in my career I do not just for that story, but strategic business decisions. Because I did that, I was able to sell Anyone But You. I was able to get Barbarella.”
Anyone But You, a romantic comedy starring Sweeney and Glen Powell, released in January, and became a smash hit at the box office, even becoming the best-performing R-rated comedy since Bridget Jones’ Baby in 2016.
In other news, Sweeney has said she “doesn’t know” when Euphoria 3 will start shooting.
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Alex Rigotti
NME
