In November of 2023, when Letterboxd film-girl summer became video essay fall, I stumbled upon a YouTube essay titled “The Power of Ugly: The Blonde Bombshell and Why Sydney Sweeney Needs an Ugly Role.”
Essentially, Lucky Teeth (the creator) outlines a few of Hollywood’s most famous “Bombshell Blondes,” whose careers were filled with complex and developed parts, but weren’t taken seriously until they played an “ugly” character.
One example Lucky Teeth used is Margot Robbie. Known for her breakout role as Naomi Lapaglia in The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) and her hallmark role as Barbie in Barbie (2023), Robbie is anything but ugly. Ignoring the internet trolls that preach “Robbie is mid,” the general public is in consensus: Robbie is beautiful. Unfortunately, Lucky Teeth describes how Robbie’s typecasting as a “beautiful young blonde” served to dampen her esteem, as remarks over her sex appeal eclipsed all her nuanced choices and interpretations.
That changed when she took the role of Tonya Harding in I, Tonya (2017), where she was transformed into an awkward, plain, “ugly” character. Through Robbie’s expert portrayal and, most profoundly, her conventionally unattractive character design, audiences can see beyond the bombshell actress and into the depths of Tonya Harding.
Lucky Teeth goes on to explain that the same thing applies to rising actress Sydney Sweeney. Sweeney’s most significant claims to fame include Cassie in the hit television drama Euphoria (2019-2026) and Beatrice in Anyone But You (2024). As a relatively shallow romantic comedy, Anyone But You didn’t have a lot of room for complex character development, especially for Beatrice. Contrastingly, Sweeney’s performance in Euphoria has been widely acclaimed for her emotional intensity and psychological depth. However, while many viewers and critics have rightfully praised Sweeney for her commitment to the character, the public has often overlooked her performance because of her attractiveness. Sweeney herself stated in a 2022 interview with The Independent that “No one talks about [my performance in Euphoria] because I got naked.”
Through these examples, one fact is made painfully clear: when cast in a “sexy” (or even moderately attractive) role, Sweeney’s performance will always be overshadowed by how much she shows her cleavage.
In May 2024, Black Bear Pictures announced that Sweeney had been cast in a biopic surrounding the life of Christy Martin, a legendary female boxer who competed from 1989 to 2012. The film, titled Christy, is set to release on Nov. 7 of this year, and is no average sports feature—Martin’s life was one characterized not just by a 2009 title of female super welterweight, but also with struggles with her sexuality, domestic abuse, and an attempted murder.
In the trailer, released on Sept. 11, Sweeney sports short, brown, ’80s curls, baggy T-shirts, and muscles that Sweeney trained for several months to achieve. She also displays her boxing ability, West Virginian accent, and a very promising capacity for immense emotional depth. Aside from the ever-so-prevalent Instagram agitators who feel the need to comment on Sweeney’s body, the reception of this trailer was highly positive. A multitude of fans praised Sweeney for her drastic transformation. Following its Sept. 6 premiere, many critics praised her performance and speculated that this may be her first Oscar nomination.
Time can only tell whether or not Sweeney will actually be nominated for an Oscar, let alone win one. But it cannot answer the question of whether or not Sweeney obtained these acclamations because of her lack of desirability. Physical transformation is often a facet of Oscar nominations, so one can’t definitely say that critics only acclaim Sweeney for this reason. However, when it comes to the public, Hollywood actresses will never be taken as seriously as their male counterparts until a role requires them to be “ugly.”
