The True Story Behind Sydney Sweeney’s Most Shocking Anyone But You Scene Makes It Way Harder To Watch

Summary Sydney Sweeney actually got bitten by a spider during a scene in Anyone but You, adding to the realism of her character's fear.

The crew initially had no idea about the spider bite, mistaking Sweeney's genuine reaction for more dramatic acting during filming.

Besides the spider incident, the cast had to deal with sharks while filming in Sydney Harbour, adding more BTS thrills to the rom-com.

The most difficult Sydney Sweeney scene to watch in Anyone but You is made even more shocking by the true story behind its filming. Following hit roles in movies and TV shows like Euphoria, The White Lotus, Sharp Objects, and Reality, Sydney Sweeney jumped into the rom-com landscape as she led the cast of Anyone but You alongside Glen Powell. A loose adaptation of Shakespeare’s play Much Ado About Nothing, Sweeney received plenty of praise for her role as Bea in Anyone but You as it became a $219 million box office smash, with the actress also serving as a producer on the 2023 rom-com.

As Ben and Bea try to trick those around them into thinking they’re a couple before Halle and Claudia’s wedding in Anyone but You’s ending, the movie is surprisingly filled with numerous stunts and physical gags while the characters explore Australia. From Bea falling off a boat into Sydney Harbour to Ben jumping off a cliff into the ocean, Anyone but You’s characters often find themselves in dangerous situations. Arguably the most difficult-to-watch scene is when the group goes hiking and a large Huntsman spider crawls on Bea’s hand, with this moment having a shocking behind-the-scenes story for Sydney Sweeney.

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Sydney Sweeney Was Actually Bitten By The Spider In Anyone But You

Sweeney was told to agitate the spider

The Anyone but You scene in which Bea finds a spider in Ben’s shorts becomes much harder to watch when realizing that actress Sydney Sweeney was actually bitten by the spider in real life. Rather than use a prop spider, Anyone but You’s crew opted to have a real Huntsman spider crawl on Sweeney’s hand during the shot after she pulls it off of Glen Powell’s character. However, during the establishing shot, the spider bit her and it led to Sweeney – reasonably – yelling in a more dramatic manner than the scene called for.

According to Anyone but You star Glen Powell, the crew had no idea that Sweeney had been bitten by the spider at the moment, and simply thought that her frightened reaction was a dramatic choice for her character to be extremely afraid of the large arachnid. Powell himself caught on quickly that something was wrong and stepped in, which is how they found out that Sweeney’s screams were genuine and she was actually bitten by the trained spider during that take. Thankfully, Huntsman spider bites typically aren’t harmful to humans other than mild symptoms, but Powell noted later that Sweeney had lasting marks on her arm from the incident (via EW).

According to Glen Powell, the crew had no idea that Sweeney had been bitten by the spider at the moment, and simply thought that her frightened reaction was a dramatic choice for her character to be extremely afraid of the large arachnid.

As it turns out, Sweeney had been told to provoke the spider during that take in order to make it start crawling, as the arachnid had been too still and looked “fake” beforehand. Consequently, it shouldn’t have been too surprising that the real spider responded with a bite when she had been encouraged to agitate it. Powell himself had a similar response, stating, “Of course that’s going to happen,” in regard to the spider’s reaction to being shaken around.

Related Where To Watch Anyone But You Anyone But You's release provides a chance to see Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney's R-rated rom-com, and here's how to watch it in theaters or at home.

Anyone But You's BTS Spider Story Makes Ben's Reaction Way More Realistic

The spider scene in Anyone but You is primarily played for laughs, as Bea is frightened but quickly moves on when she gets the spider off of her. On the other hand, Ben continues to overreact as he yells in fear and begins stripping off his clothes and throwing them off the cliff until he’s left entirely naked. However, given the fact that a real-life spider bite occurred while filming, Ben’s reaction to one being inside his clothes within the context of the movie doesn’t seem as unrealistic.

Related Anyone But You's Shower Scene Fixes A Modern Movie Problem That's Annoyed Me For Years One of Anyone But You's most memorable scenes was the shower one, which managed to fix a big modern movie problem by finding balance.

Sydney Sweeney's Spider Bite Wasn't Anyone But You's Only Dangerous Run-In With Wildlife

Sharks & spiders & stingrays, oh my!

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While Anyone but You’s spider scene is the only time that one of the cast members was left with a mark from an animal-related stunt, the 2023 rom-com still had to take other precautions with local wildlife. For instance, Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell reportedly had to wear ankle bracelets while filming their scenes in Sydney Harbour as a way to ward off sharks. Anyone but You’s two lead actors had a surprising number of sequences to shoot in the water on-location, including the scenes when they fall off the boat into Sydney Harbour, Powell jumps off the cliff into the Pacific Ocean, and the duo swim to a sailboat earlier on.

Unlike the spider incident, the cast and crew emerged unscathed from their close encounters with sharks.

Anyone but You director Will Gluck told EW that they initially weren’t permitted to film in Sydney Harbour at night due to the frequency of shark incidents in those waters, so they had to utilize shark tanks during production. The report elaborated that the more the crew filmed in those waters, the more sharks they had to deal with. Unlike the spider incident, the cast and crew emerged unscathed from their close encounters with sharks, with so many run-ins with wildlife certainly adding another level of thrills to Anyone but You’s rom-com story.

Source: EW