Sydney Sweeney ‘Isn’t Pretty’ & ‘Can’t Act’ Says ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ Producer Carol Baum

Madame Web star Sydney Sweeney is a hugely in-demand actress right now, but one top producer doesn’t understand the hype.

Carol Baum, who served as executive producer on films such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Father of the Bride, slammed the White Lotus actress during a discussion after a screening of her 1988 film Dead Ringers.

According to the Daily Mail, Baum said she “didn’t get” Sweeney, who rose to fame playing Cassie Howard on HBO’s hit teen drama Euphoria and has gone on to star in films such as Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, The Voyeurs, Reality, Anyone But You, and Immaculate.

“I was watching on the plane Sydney Sweeney’s movie because I wanted to watch it,” Baum continued, referring to Will Gluck’s 2024 romantic comedy Anyone But You. “I wanted to know who she is and why everybody’s talking about her.”

She added, “I watched this unwatchable movie — sorry to people who love this movie — [this] romantic comedy where they hate each other.”

Carol Baum at movie premiere; Angela Weiss/WireImage

Baum, who works with Dolly Parton‘s production company Sandollar and teaches a producing class at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, noted, “I said to my class, ‘Explain this girl to me. She’s not pretty, she can’t act. Why is she so hot?'”

“Nobody had an answer, but then the question was asked, ‘Well if you could get your movie made because she was in it, would you do it?'” she continued. “I said, ‘Well that’s a really good question… that’s a very hard to answer because we all want to get the movie made and who walks away from a green light? Nobody I know. Your job is to get the movie made.'”

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Sweeney earned two Emmy nominations in 2022, one for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role as vulnerable teen Cassie Howard on Euphoria and another for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for her part as Olivia Mossbacher in The White Lotus.

Baum has numerous production credits across film and television and has worked with stars such as Jennifer Aniston, Steve Martin, Michael Douglas, Diane Keaton, and Jeremy Irons. Interestingly, she also executive produced the Disney Channel movie Zapped, which starred Sweeney’s Euphoria co-star Zendaya.

Sweeney most recently starred in the superhero film Madame Webb, which was slammed by critics, and the psychological horror Immaculate, which received mixed reviews but praise for Sweeney’s performance. She will next be seen in the thriller Echo Valley and the survival drama Eden.