Sydney Sweeney Reveals 'Stay Focused' Mantra After A Noisy Year

Sydney Sweeney is all about her goals and tuning out the noise following her American Eagle jeans drama.

The "Euphoria" star recently addressed the negative side of fame while promoting her new movie, "Christy." She revealed that she did not focus on the bad and prioritized the good in every situation.

Sydney Sweeney faced backlash early this year for her American Eagle jeans campaign. Many dragged her on social media for months over the ads' "genes/jeans" pun, which critics found problematic.

During a recent interview, Sweeney sat down with boxing icon Christy Martin to promote the new biographical sports drama, "Christy." One of the topics that came up during the conversation was how the actress dealt with negative publicity.

Sweeney explained that her mantra was to ignore the bad and approach each situation positively, stressing that criticisms could not break a confident person. "You just know who you are. And the people who matter and are your friends and your family, they know who I am," she said.

The actress told Extra that the only opinions of importance to her were those of her loved ones and her own. "Everything else is just noise… none of it's real," she insisted, adding that she was lucky to be surrounded by good people. "I love my job and I love my characters and I just stay focused," Sweeney declared.

As for her new movie, which hit theaters on November 7, Sweeney reflected on the emotional journey to creating the biographical sports drama. She confessed that when she first read the script, she did not know who Christy was and was shocked by her story.

"I was like, 'Everybody needs to know who she is, and everybody needs to know her story because it will save lives and it's very important,'" Sweeney recalled. She explained that she pushed her body, mind, and emotions to their limits to ensure she captured the beauty and pain of Christy's life.

The sports biopic follows the life of Christy Martin, a boxing icon, who miraculously survived her manager and husband James Martin's murder attempt. He had stabbed, shot, and left her for dead in 2010 before eventually passing away in 2014 while serving time for the crime.

Sweeney's casting as the lead role in the biopic marks another milestone in her career after facing multiple hurdles along the path to fame. The Blast recently reported that she opened up about her challenging journey to becoming a rising star in Hollywood.

According to the entertainer, she started her career at a young age and experienced several auditions that ended badly. She recalled auditioning in rooms where the casting directors would nonchalantly eat chips, not caring about the participants.

The worst experience for Sweeney was the body-shaming comments. "I've been told I need to 'fix my face,' which is not fun at 16. It's not a great experience growing up," she lamented. Despite these hurdles, she is now one of the most recognizable faces in Hollywood.

While promoting her new biopic, Sweeney finally broke her silence on the American Eagle jeans controversy. The Blast covered the story, reporting that she was surprised by the backlash but unbothered by the scathing criticisms.

Sweeney noted that she did a jeans ad because she loved wearing denim; however, she could not relate to the public's outrage over the "genes/jeans" pun. She insisted that the ad wasn't a promotion of "genetic superiority" but "great jeans."

"It didn't affect me one way or the other," Sweeney reiterated about the online backlash. She also denied claims that her ad had caused American Eagle jeans stocks to decline, noting that these allegations were false.

Earlier this week, Sweeney made waves for enjoying a romantic date with her rumored boyfriend, Scooter Braun. The Blast shared that they were spotted on November 4 with friends at the Bank of America Winter Village at Bryant Park.

The group enjoyed one of the park's private "Cozy Igloos," located right by the ice rink. Sources claimed the venue must have given them special access to their facilities because the park did not open until Thursday, November 6.

After having fun while chowing down on pretzels, chicken fingers, and hot chocolate, Sweeney and Braun were later photographed kissing on a rock in Central Park. The pair began trending as a couple after they attended Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sànchez's wedding together.

Will Sydney Sweeney stop getting hate for the American Eagle jeans campaign?