The new rom-com Anyone But You stars Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell as fake lovers and looks steamy and hilarious. But, times on set weren’t always sweet. A real spider actually bit the 26-year-old actress on the set of the upcoming movie.
Ironically, Sydney Sweeney, who will be playing Spider-Woman in Madame Web, had a nasty interaction with a real-life spider. In the trailer for Anyone But You, there’s a scene when Bea pulls a large spider out of Ben’s pants and throws it to the ground. This hilariously leads him to remove more clothing to eliminate other spiders. Sydney Sweeney spoke on Live with Kelly and Mark that the same huntsman’s spider actually bit her.
“While we were filming that scene, it bit me. It hurt so bad, I had horrible, horrible marks on my hand,” Sweeney recalled via People. “I had to take meds and everything. Because anything can kill you in Australia.”
The White Lotus star was incredibly lucky she was okay after that. While on the Today show on Monday, Sweeney and Powell shared that the actress’s terrified reaction went unnoticed on set. That is except by the film’s male lead.
“Glen was the only one who finally caught on — they thought I was acting, but it actually bit me,” said Sweeney. “There’s a different tone to her voice when somebody is actually being bit by a spider. We just thought it was really dramatic improv,” Powell explained.
Through the extensive time that Sweeney and Powell spent on set together, they can clearly distinguish between acting and reality.
Did Sydney Sweeney Experience Any Other Dangers While on Set?
Not only were spiders a threat to the two leads filming Anyone But You, but so were sharks. In an Entertainment Weekly interview, Will Gluck revealed Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell had to float on a buoy in the middle of Sydney Harbor. Here was the problem- this was a shark’s hangout place.
“Initially they wouldn’t give us permission because it’s a huge shark area and people get hurt by sharks all the time there,” said Gluck. “It was a little bit scary and strange at 3 in the morning with our actors swimming into a shark tank, knowing that they’re at a place where sharks like to hang out.”
In order to protect the actors and stunt doubles, they had to do these scenes in a shark tank surrounded by floating buoys in a cage. There were also shark consultants on set to advise on the best practices. A big lesson everyone learned was that the more activity, the more attention would draw sharks. This meant the longer they were shooting in the water, the bigger the risk.
Thankfully, no one was harmed in the making of this movie…by the sharks anyway.
