This Week in Gossip #19

Sydney Sweeney did it for the work, the Dan Schneider reckoning is here, and The Crow remake faces more pushback.

1. More of This, Please: Sydney Sweeney Gets Remarkably Candid About Madame Web

One of my favourite things in the world of celebrity gossip is when an actor is extremely blunt about why they took certain jobs. Many people find it ungrateful or rude when someone admits they took a job for the money, especially when it’s a blockbuster or geeky property (heaven forefend they disrespect the legacy of Venom, right?) Watching these poor beleaguered souls pretend they were lifelong fans of a third-tier superhero or toy brand is too much. So, let’s give a shout out to Sydney Sweeney, the woman of the moment, for her candour in discussing her career choices.

Sweeney is one of the breakout stars of HBO’s Euphoria, and aside from Zendaya and Jacob Elordi, its most well-known actor. She’s been very savvy in her choices, going from serious drama (Reality) to rom-com (Anyone But You) to horror (Immaculate), showing off what she can do. And then there’s Madame Web, the movie that literally nobody asked for that became an instant meme and major box office flop. Its title star Dakota Johnson could barely hide her confusion and disdain for the movie she was promoting for several months, but in the webby aftermath of its flopping, her co-star has been remarkably blunt about why she signed on to what seemed like a mess from the very beginning.

She told GQ UK, "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."

She’s got her head on her shoulders here, and she’s not wrong. We don’t have the studio system anymore but we are seeing these conglomerates eager to get big names on their side. Sweeney is currently a hot commodity and, like any younger stars, she wants to have a hands-on approach to her career. You do the superhero movie because it puts you in good standing with a brand. If it’s a hit, you get a lot of doors opened to you. If it’s not then the chances are you’ll still have a foot in their door, at the very least. And the deal is working for Sony because Anyone But You was a big hit.

Acting is a job. Hollywood is a business. The vast majority of people in the entertainment industry are blue collar workers, many of whom are living paycheque to paycheque, and yes, that includes a crap ton of actors. We had a whole strike over this last year, remember? Sweeney herself talked about the unexpected expenses of being an actor, whether it’s stylists or publicists or security, and got a lot of flack for it, but she’s right. So, I appreciate her laying out the labour she’s engaged in to make her It Girl moment stretch into a long-term career. Just don’t sign up for another Sony superhero movie, Sydney.

2. Eric McCormack Defends Straight Actors Playing Gay Roles, So Let’s Get Into That Discourse

Eric McCormack is in the UK right now to star in a concert staging of the musical Wild About You, so he's doing the promo trail on shows like Good Morning Britain, which is our version of stuff like Good Morning America but way worse (Piers Morgan used to host it.) He was asked about the ever-relevant issue of straight actors playing gay roles, notable in his case because of Will and Grace. He said, "There’s no part I’ve ever played where I wasn’t playing something I’m not. It’s part of the gig. And I’ve always said, if gay actors weren’t allowed to play straight actors, Broadway would be over. So this is what we do. I’d like to think that I represent it well. I came from the theatre, and one of my best friends was a gay man. So I think I took their spirit and their message in what was otherwise just a sitcom and represented it, I hope."