Sydney Sweeney has opened up about her difficult start in the acting industry and the sacrifices her parents made to allow her to pursue her dream.
The Euphoria star, 25, who plays Cassie in the gritty drama series, revealed that her dream to be an actress ended up with her parents going bankrupt and getting divorced as the pressures of making ends meet became too much.
The actress has admitted that growing up without financial stability has made her more cautious about protecting her own earnings, despite establishing herself as a successful star in recent years.
She also admitted she blames herself for her parents' divorce after their marriage was put under intense pressure when they moved to Los Angeles from Spokane, Washington, so she could attend auditions.
Sweeney's career began at the age of 11 when she was given the chance to star in a low-budget zombie movie, 2009's Zombies Of Mass Destruction, which she had to convince her parents to allow her to do.
They were initially not keen on her taking the role but she presented them with a slideshow of a five-year plan detailing where her career could take her if she took on the job.
After landing the role, Sweeney would go on to audition for everything she could, meaning her family had to travel 1,200 miles from Spokane to LA, and rent places to stay while she was working.
The family eventually ended up moving to Los Angeles after the cost of commuting between the two states became too much but ended up losing everything when her father lost his job and went bankrupt, forcing them to sell their family home and live in a motel.
Sweeney told The Sun: "We lived in one room. My mom and I shared a bed and my dad and little brother shared a couch.
"Looking back now, it makes no sense, because if they couldn’t afford going back and forth, they were not going to be able to afford living in LA."
With increasing financial pressures, and Sweeney's early acting jobs only earning her minimal money, her parents ended up divorcing.
Sweeney admitted that she blamed herself for their split, adding: "They always say, 'It wasn’t your fault'. It was."
The turmoil in her personal life led Sweeney to aim to earn enough so that she could buy back their family home when she was 18, and bring her family back together.
However, she found she was still struggling to make ends meet despite landing roles in big TV shows including Grey's Anatomy, 90210, and Heroe.
She explained: "I only had $800 to my name. My parents weren’t back together and there was nothing I could do to help. I never cried more in my entire life.
"I hated going home and friends or family members being like, 'When are you going to come home and get a real job?'
"There were a lot of really condescending statements that would make me disappointed in myself and guilty that my parents had given up so much to allow me to follow my dreams."
Her fortunes turned in recent years with roles in The Handmaid's Tale and Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, before landing her most famous role as Cassie in Euphoria.
However, she admitted that she takes on side hustles such as launching her new collection with Frankies Bikinis - which caused a huge stir with her sultry advertising images - as the royalties actors get paid these days are far less than what they were, especially with the rise of streaming platforms meaning stars no longer get residuals.
She remains careful with her money due to large outgoings to her lawyers, agents, business managers, and publicist, which she says costs "more than her mortgage".
Featured image credit: REUTERS / Alamy