The White Lotus star Sydney Sweeney says anxiety caused by Instagram is ‘sickening’

‘It’s the most unhealthy part of my life,’ actor says

Sydney Sweeney has condemned the anxiety she says has been exacerbated by social media platforms such as Instagram.

The US actor who rose to fame opposite Zendaya in the teen drama Euphoria before her role as college student Olivia in HBO’s critically acclaimed drama The White Lotus, is now preparing to appear in erotic thriller The Voyeurs.

The film stars Sweeney and Justice Smith as a young couple who move into a high-rise apartment, where they realise they have an unobstructed view of the couple in the flat across the street from them.

Director Michael Mohan has called it a commentary on the culture of “stalking” social media has enabled.

“It’s the most unhealthy part of my life,” Sweeney, 23, told the Press Association. “The fact that I am second guessing and having anxiety over posting a picture is sickening.”

She said she believed this particular side of internet culture is a topic that has not been explored in film before.

“I’ve never seen a movie, especially present day, explore the detrimental side of our society,” she said.

“Because you’re constantly comparing yourself to their lives, what they’re wearing, where they are, what they look like, and I think that’s something that [my character] Pippa totally has a lot of problems with, and she’s comparing herself to across the window and the couple.”

The Voyeurs will be released on Amazon Prime Video on 10 September.

Sweeney’s other project, The White Lotus, has received rave reviews from critics and was hailed as “the show of the summer” by The Independent’s Micha Frazer-Caroll.

It also received five stars from The Independent critic Ed Cumming, who praised Sweeney for her “magnificently deadpan” performance.

Additional reporting by Press Association.