Sydney Sweeney may have spent the summer being dragged online over a dodgy American Eagle ad campaign, but now she’s getting talked about for something else entirely: Oscar buzz.
The Euphoria actress has just premiered her boxing biopic Christy at the Toronto International Film Festival, and suddenly the conversation has shifted from great jeans chat to whether she’s about to land her first Best Actress nomination.
The ad scandal, where American Eagle thought it was clever to make a pun about Sweeney’s “great genes” was called out for being tone-deaf.. Things escalated when her Republican voter registration resurfaced, which ended with Donald Trump giving her his unsolicited approval. Not exactly the kind of PR run any actor wants right before awards season.
In 2024, Sweeney fronted a Laneige campaign that plastered the words “Bouncy and Firm” across her chest in giant letters… subtle, right? Then came the wildest one yet: the Dr Squatch collab. After appearing naked in a tub for the brand, she went one step further and launched a bar of soap allegedly infused with her own bathwater. People called it the peak of objectification, seeing it as Sweeney cashing in on the male gaze.
But Christy might be her redemption arc. Sweeney plays Christy Martin, the 1980s fighter who became the face of women’s boxing in the 1990s, and people are calling it the best work of her career. Basically, almost everyone agrees that Sweeney shines. The TIFF premiere even ended with a standing ovation.
Credit: Instagram/@sydney_sweeney
New York Times columnist Kyle Buchanan tweeted that her Oscar odds are “great,” while others have called her “a revelation” and tipped her for Best Actress. The timing couldn’t be more deliberate, as Christy drops on 7th November, right in the middle of awards season.
On X, one person said: “We are not watching this movie lmao. The reviews will suck along with her performance.”
Another said: “Sydney Sweeney’s Oscar buzz for Christy is just Hollywood’s latest woke flex, pushing a Republican actress as a feminist icon while ignoring her voting record. Christy Martin’s story deserves better than this.”
Love her or loathe her, one thing’s clear: Sydney Sweeney is impossible to ignore. She may not have survived the internet pile-on over “great genes,” but if TIFF buzz is anything to go by, she might just punch her way to the Oscars.
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Featured image credit: Instagram/@sydney_sweeney
