Sydney Sweeney In Venice, In Love, And Chasing The Role That Could Finally Define Her

Venice is becoming something of a second home for Sydney Sweeney, but this time, the conversation is about far more than red-carpet gowns. She arrived in Italy this week ahead of the festival’s opening night gala, appearing once again as an ambassador for Armani Beauty. It’s a role she’s held before, but the context surrounding her return feels noticeably different.

Last year, she was in Venice for Jeff Bezos’ wedding, and it was there, reportedly, that her relationship with Scooter Braun began. Fast forward to this week, and the romance appears to be deepening into something serious: just days before flying to Italy, she was spotted in Los Angeles with Braun and his children, casually stepping out to grab smoothies in what might be the most perfectly Los Angeles activity imaginable. Meeting the kids, blending into daily life? That’s not a fleeting fling that’s something substantial.

But away from the romance and the glamour, the conversation around Sydney’s career remains as complicated as ever. She was at TIFF last year for the world premiere of Christy, where early Oscar buzz swelled loud and fast only to fade when the film reached theatres and fell flat. The hype, it turned out, had outpaced the reality. She remains widely expected to become an Academy Award nominee one day, but the question lingers: will she get there with the right project, or will the noise always drown out the work?

That brings us to what could be the most important move of her career so far: playing Undine Spragg in the upcoming film adaptation of Edith Wharton’s Custom of the Country.

It is a role that has defeated others. Sofia Coppola famously tried to adapt it for television, only to walk away because Apple objected to how “unlikeable” Undine is as a character. Coppola could only picture Florence Pugh in the part and it’s easy to see why. Undine is a social climber who marries and discards husbands in relentless pursuit of status. She is charming, ruthless, and completely unapologetic about what she wants. She isn’t “likeable” because she keeps winning at a game that was never designed to let women win on their own terms and that, ultimately, is the entire point.

It is also a story that feels shockingly relevant today. Undine chases titles, attention, luxury, and validation, a mirror held up to our own era of social media, filtered perfection, and the endless pursuit of external gratification that so many women find themselves trapped in. She isn’t sympathetic, but she is understandable. And that is exactly what makes the role so electrifying.

So: can Sydney Sweeney pull it off? It’s a fair question. She divides opinion some see raw talent waiting for the right vessel, others see an actress whose fame often outruns her performances. Florence Pugh would undoubtedly have brought a sharper, more layered intelligence to the part. But there is something about Sydney that fits Undine perfectly: a certain hungry edge, a drive that feels visible and unignorable, a face that reads as innocent while hiding steel underneath. She may not give us the version Sofia Coppola imagined but she could give us something equally compelling.

Written and directed by Josie Rourke, and co-starring Leo Woodall, Rose Leslie, Matthew Goode, and Hugh Dancy, Custom of the Country is currently in post-production and could arrive on the festival circuit in 2027. If it works, it could be the moment Sydney Sweeney stops being the subject of hype and starts being the subject of acclaim.

Until then, Venice will do what Venice does best: cameras will flash, rumours will swirl, and Sydney Sweeney will stand at the centre of it all, beautiful, ambitious, and waiting for the role that will finally make the world stop talking about everything else and just watch her work.