I want to make films on domestic violence that ‘save lives’

Sydney Sweeney told the BBC that she wanted to make films that would “impact people and hopefully save their lives”.

This year, the 28-year-old US actor starred in psychological thriller The Housemaid, which deals with issues of domestic violence, and boxing biopic Christy.

Sweeney says the issue is “common” and says he is “very careful” when playing such roles.

“It’s important to be able to make a film that deals with a very difficult subject on a more commercial level,” he adds.

Sweeney currently stars as Millie Calloway in The Housemaid, an adaptation of Freida McFadden’s 2022 novel of the same name.

The novel is an international bestseller and has built a large following, especially among the reading community on TikTok.

Sweeney says he’s a “huge fan of the book” and “loves all the characters.”

“I love complex, interesting, crazy, twisted stories. This is a dream project,” he adds.

The film also stars Amanda Seyfried and Brandon Sklenar as Nina and Andrew Winchester, who use Sweeney’s character in their home.

Seyfried and Sweeney were chosen to play the two female leads in The Housemaid because of their physical similarities, but Seyfried says the similarities don’t end there.

“There’s an uncanny similarity between us and it’s really fun to work with people [who] “They go about life in a similar way, they have similar ideals about work and life,” he tells the BBC.

Sweeney also says the pair have developed a “dynamic” where they “enjoy being around” each other and that their relationship means they can “go to these crazy places and explore so much more in your character.”

Seyfried’s character, Nina, struggles with complex mental health issues throughout the film, making it difficult to watch at times.

“You have to play it as realistically as possible because it has to reflect real life,” he says.

Housemaid has been compared to 1990s domestic thrillers such as The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, Fatal Attraction and Basic Instinct. However, there is a very modern twist to the plot of physical and mental abuse in the film.

Seyfried, known for her roles in Mamma Mia! and Mean Girls believes the cast “does well in striking the right tone” and hopes that while the film is entertaining, people “emerge with a better understanding of domestic violence” and “broaden their horizons.”

He adds that this is “especially” true for “people who thankfully haven’t had to deal with this.”

This is echoed by director Paul Feig, who admits to being “nervous” about handling the subject sensitively.

“I made sure there was no physical abuse, but rather psychological abuse,” she says.

Domestic violence in movies has become a hot topic for Hollywood, spurred by the promotional tour for 2024’s It Ends With Us. criticized by some for packaging this as a romantic story rather than exploitation.

Sklenar, who starred in both The Housemaid and It Ends With Us, says taking on the role of the abuser was “challenging.”

He describes his characters – Andrew Winchester in The Housemaid and Atlas Corrigan in It Ends With Us – as “polar opposites.”

“When it comes to acting, you can try anything you want, but in the end sometimes it just affects you,” he says.

“It’s very intense and will ultimately affect you in certain ways.”

The film received mostly positive reviews, including four stars. from GuardianHe said Feig and the cast “served with great taste; it’s an innocent holiday treat.”

The reception will be a welcome one for Sweeney, who has been at the center of much drama and controversy in 2025.

American Eagle jeans ads face criticism for price hikes issues with race and beauty standards. Sweeney told People Magazine: Earlier this month he was “opposed to hate and divisiveness” and was surprised by the reaction to the campaign.

And her career has been under scrutiny following a series of box office flops – but The Housemaid opened with a healthy $19m (£14m) in North America last weekend.

This is no surprise, considering the original novel was a huge hit, selling more than 1.6 million copies worldwide.

Two sequels have also been released, which means there may be other film adaptations as well.

Feig, whose previous films include Bridesmaids and The Heat, believes novels will be a much more productive source of material for Hollywood because “studios always want something of known quality to justify their ability to invest a lot of money” in the project.

But he says he tries not to let books with large audiences and fan bases determine the projects he does because “there are a lot of books that are really popular that don’t work as movies.”

Feig adds that working with Rebecca Sonnenshine’s adapted script for The Housemaid was “fun,” but that it “restores” parts of the book that “readers would really miss if they weren’t there.”

There’s also “an extra ending that wasn’t included in the book,” he says, “which allows readers to encounter something new they didn’t expect.”

Housemaid is now showing in UK cinemas.