Sydney Sweeney Excited to ‘Jump Back’ Into Playing Cassie in Season 3 of Euphoria: ‘The Most Special Character’ (Exclusive)
“I love crazy Cassie, so the crazier, the better for me,” Sweeney told PEOPLE about her hopes for the character’s upcoming storyline
Sydney Sweeney is ready to get back in the halls of East Highland High School!
The actress, 26, plays Cassie Howard on the hit HBO drama Euphoria, which will start filming its third season in January 2025, the network announced in July.
“I’m very excited to jump back into Cassie. She is definitely one of the most special characters for me and I love my Euphoria family, so I look forward to it,” Sweeney, who is currently partrnering with her HEYDUDE, tells PEOPLE of heading back on set in the new year with costars including Zendaya, Jacob Elordi Alexa Demie, Maude Apatow and Hunter Schafer.
As for what she would like to explore in her season 3 storyline, the White Lotus star says she likes exploring the high school girl’s dark side.
“I love crazy Cassie, so the crazier, the better for me,” she admits.
Cassie has a wild run during the season 2 finale, interrupting her sister Lexi’s (Apatow) play, which features scenes inspired by Cassie’s life, declaring herself a villain and confirming her breakup with best friend Maddy’s (Demie) ex-boyfriend Nate (Elordi).
But Sweeney tells PEOPLE she doesn’t know what’s in store for Cassie in the upcoming season of Euphoria, which was announced in 2022 with a production start slated for 2025.
“Honestly, I don’t know anything about it,” she says when asked if there are any tidbits she can tease for fans now that fans know production will begin in January.
The Anyone But You star might be staying mum because she admitted in a March 2024 interview that talking about Euphoria is “as scary as talking about Marvel,” the notoriously secret film franchise. “I said one thing, and it went everywhere.”
She’s likely referring to her Who What Wear cover story in March 2024 in which she revealed that there will be a time jump for the characters in season 3.
“It’s going to be very, very wild,” she told the outlet of the season, before revealing the time jump. “I actually like it because there’s so much room for growth for both me as a person and also Cassie as a character.”
In the meantime, Sweeney is focusing her attention on her partnership with the popular shoe brand HEYDUDE, which holds great meaning to her as she says her “family’s obsessed with the brand.”
“Everyone wears it. I’ve been up at the lake the whole summer and all my cousins wear HEYDUDEs. I’ve just been noticing more and more people wearing them,” she shares. “I’ve definitely noticed that the brand’s really popular among young men, and I always gravitate towards brands that I want to bring into a younger female audience space because I really think that this footwear is for everybody and it’s super comfortable and everybody should be comfortable and confident.”
Upon being approached by HEYDUDE to collaborate alongside them, the Immaculate star felt it “would be really fun to do.”
“I really wanted to tell a story that not everyone gets to see. Everyone knows the Sydney Sweeney that is on the carpet and in L.A. and on sets, but not everyone really gets to know Syd, which is where a lot of the inspiration behind this campaign that you’re going to get to see comes from,” she adds. “I’m so excited that HEYDUDE really just was down to embrace this whole different version of me. It was awesome. I felt so happy. My entire team was saying about it, that it was probably one of the most fun shoots that we’ve all had and just the most organic and [very] Syd, so that’s where it all grew from.”
