Sure, you might get your grandmother a present at Christmas, or make her a nice cup of tea when you visit on a Sunday, but have you ever got her a role in a Hollywood film? Well, consider yourself the worst grandchild ever as Sydney Sweeney has trumped us all this week, recruiting both of her grandmothers as extras in her upcoming horror movie, Immaculate.
The new film sees the Euphoria actor play a young woman who has a near-death experience, devotes herself to god and moves to an Italian convent – only to be horrified by what she finds there. But a surprising perk of filming the scary movie was involving her grandmothers in brief cameo roles, she told the Today Show in the US earlier this week.
‘I flew them to Italy and they got to come visit me on set,’ she told the hosts. ‘I made them extras as nuns and then I brought them to the premiere in LA and they were just so excited.’
It was a particularly special turn of events because they had always wanted to visit Italy, as Sweeney told The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in February. ‘They’d never been to Europe. My Grandy’s dream was to go to Italy, she’s never left the country before so I surprised them,’ she said.
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One of her grandmothers had already made headlines for her brilliant reaction to Sweeney’s nude scenes in Euphoria. ‘They said I have the best t*ts in Hollywood,’ the actor explained during an interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, after which her gran waved from the audience, also giving a thumbs-up.
Sweeney is certainly not the first to share the limelight with her relatives – in fact, there seems to be something of a trend for bringing grandparents along for a taste of the glitzy life. British singer-songwriter Raye took her mother, father and grandmother with her to her history-making night at the BRIT Awards in March 2024.
During her acceptance speech for her Album of the Year award (one of the six BRITs she took home that night), the 26-year-old was joined by her grandmother Agatha Dawson-Amoah on stage. 'My grandma is awake til 3am praying for me and my beautiful sisters, I love you so much,' Raye said through sobs.
Meanwhile, Florence Pugh's grandmother, who she calls Granzo Pat, joined her on the red carpet for the World Premiere of Dune: Part Two in London in February 2024. It wasn't the first time Pat (who's particularly fabulous, we might add) has made such an appearance; she also joined Pugh for the Don’t Worry Darling premiere in Venice.
According to her Instagram, the actor decided to invite her grandma after learning that she ‘hadn’t bothered renewing her passport because she didn’t think she’d be doing too much travelling the older she gets’. Pat reportedly shied away from pictures initially but then, Pugh explained: ‘Next thing I know she’s dancing for all the photographers calling her name.’ Iconic behaviour to say the least.
So, next time we've got a plus-one on an invitation, we know who we'll be asking...
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