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Sweeney produces and stars in the horror film as an American nun who transfers to an Italian convent that harbors dark secrets.
By Kirsten Chuba
Events Editor
When season two of Euphoria was airing in early 2022, social media was filled with memes of Sydney Sweeney‘s terrified expressions in the show, as the internet declared the star needed to be put in a horror movie as soon as possible. It turns out she was already working on it, in the form of her latest film, Immaculate.
“I already had the script so I was really excited to see everybody’s reactions to Euphoria season two and everybody being like, ‘A horror film! Give us a horror film!'” Sweeney told The Hollywood Reporter at the movie’s Los Angeles premiere at Beyond Fest on Friday. “I was like, ‘Just you wait! I have something in store for you.’ I held onto it for a long time.”
A long time is an understatement, as she initially auditioned for the project a decade ago, but the movie was never made. Years later, when Sweeney’s star had risen and she was looking to get into producing, she resurrected it alongside director Michael Mohan and writer Andrew Lobel, as she led the film as both star and producer.
It’s the second film she’s produced in the last year, following hit rom-com Anyone But You. As for her producing idols, she points to “Margot Robbie with [her] LuckyChap [production company], Brad Pitt with [his] Plan B [company]. I think that they’re really inspirational.”
Sweeney — walking the carpet alongside her grandmothers, whom she cast as extras in the film — also noted that when choosing producing projects versus strictly acting ones, “It depends on what comes to me and what I find and I want to chase. I want to produce stuff that I’m not in that I can give storytelling to others, and just truly depends on the story.”
Sydney Sweeney brings her grandmothers to the LA premiere of #Immaculate pic.twitter.com/YWD4LwsCPM
As for Immaculate, the film follows Sweeney as an American nun who transfers to an Italian convent that harbors dark and horrifying secrets. She reunites with Mohan after he previously directed her in Everything Sucks and The Voyeurs.
“This one, Sydney was my boss, she hired me, and I wanted to deliver for her,” the director said of their third collaboration. “I’m very lucky that we just trust each other, and oftentimes when we’re shooting I’ll do a take and we can look at each other and we know what the other one’s thinking and we just go into the next take knowing that we’re on the same page. That shorthand is wonderful, it makes for a really good working relationship.”
When he signed on, Mohan also suggested some changes to the script, as “the ending was a lot more traditional and I had this idea for what the ending could be.” Sweeney and her fellow producers agreed with his idea, which he said, “I think is perhaps the most disturbing ending of any mainstream horror film.”
And as for if the internet’s hopes for Sweeney’s horror debut will be met, Mohan promised, “It absolutely lives up, there’s no doubt in my mind. I am not a confident person — I’m so confident that her fans are going to love it.”
Immaculate, which also co-stars The White Lotus‘ Simona Tabasco, will hit theaters on March 22.
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