BY DESIGN
FROM THE HANDMAID’S TALE TO THE NEW NEO-NOIR FILM UNDER THE SILVER LAKE (OUT THIS FRIDAY), 2018 HAS BEEN SYDNEY SWEENEY’S YEAR. OFF CAMERA, HER PASSIONS INCLUDE HOME REMODELING, PINBALL, AND MIXED MARTIAL ARTS. BY LISA MISCHIANTI. PHOTOGRAPHED BY WILLIAMS + HIRAKAWA. STYLED BY DEBORAH AFSHANI

AGE: 21.
LIVES IN: Los Angeles.
YOU ALSO KNOW HER FROM: Sharp Objects (2018).
STARTUP: “There was no entertainment industry at all in Spokane, Washington, where I was raised. When I was 12, this movie came to town randomly and I begged my parents to let me audition. I even created a five-year business-plan presentation of what could happen in my life if I did. I ended up getting the part.”
HOME IMPROVEMENT: “I grew up remodeling houses with my parents, and I’ve started to do it again with some of my friends. So, I like to watch HGTV—Love It or List It, Property Brothers, Flip or Flop. I’m also addicted to Houzz, the interior-decorating app where you can look at all these pictures of different rooms that have shopping links to the items you see.”
GAME TIME: “My family collects vintage pinball machines, so I have a few in my apartment. We have one that’s all in German and an old Playboy one from the ’70s.”
SELF-CARE: “I actually have such sensitive skin that I only wash my face with water and then I use some Mario Badescu facial spray with rosewater. I have a mini bottle in my bag and then a giant one in my bathroom.”
FIGHTING FIT: “I’m trained in mixed martial arts. I started when I was 14 and did my first competition at 18. It was a grappling competition against all guys a weight category above me, and I got first place. Those guys were probably saying, ‘Oh, we didn’t want to hurt her,’ but they were definitely trying. Everyone broke a sweat!”