Sydney Sweeney’s Character Cassie Defends Her Sex Work on ‘Euphoria’ After Graphic Scenes

Sydney Sweeney‘s risqué character Cassie defended her sex work on Euphoria after several graphic scenes.

During the Sunday, May 17, episode of the hit HBO show, Cassie got her big break on a movie set but it didn’t take long for her job on OnlyFans to come up. Lexi (Maude Apatow) specifically threw shade at her sister for filming herself topless, engaged in sexual situations and even getting paid extra for “jerk off instructions.”

“I am not a sex worker,” Cassie said before clarifying her job, “I’m a performer. That uses my body to tell stories.”

Cassie was ultimately able to book the role, which evolved into a larger opportunity. But that meant deleting her OnlyFans account — and that wasn’t as easy for Cassie. She tried to get advice from husband Nate (Jacob Elordi) but he was too busy trying to come up with the money to pay off his debt. It didn’t work and Cassie received Nate’s finger in the mail.

Cassie’s arc in season 3 has received criticism after some OnlyFans creators weren’t thrilled with how their line of work was portrayed on screen. Creator Sam Levinson, however, defended the decision to push boundaries.

“[Cassie] has got her dog house and her little dog ears and the nose, and that has its own humor,” Levinson explained to The Hollywood Reporter in April. “But what makes the scene is the fact that her housekeeper is the one filming it.”

He continued: “What we wanted to always find is the other layer of absurdity that we’re able to tie into it so that we’re not too inside of her fantasy or illusion. The gag is to jump out, to break the wall.”

Levinson broke down how he and director of photography Marcell Rév brought the scenes to life.

“An obvious choice would’ve been something modern and very plain and fancy, but we ended up choosing this mid-century home, which is a little tacky, but also stuck in the ‘70s,” Rév explained. “It’s probably a strange choice, but also it gives us possibilities. OnlyFans has its own aesthetic and how you elevate that aesthetic to the show’s aesthetic is a challenge. I’m not going to lie.”

Despite the backlash, Levinson stood by his vision.

“Some of these scenes we only lit with these ring lights that she would use. When you’re inside, it’s a beautiful, glowing front light, but then you jump out of it and it’s just a pool of light and everything surrounding it is dark. It’s just gnarly and jarring,” he added. “We wanted to capture what she’s trying to show the audience and be inside of it. But then also pull back wider and see how depressing it is.”

Euphoria airs on HBO Sundays at 9 p.m. ET.