Sydney Sweeney Made Her TV Debut In A Popular 2000s Superhero Series

When Tim Kring's superhero series "Heroes" debuted in 2006, it took the world by storm and became popular instantly. The show's first season explored a brand-new, wholly original universe where random citizens began to develop supernatural abilities. At the center of the drama was Claire (Hayden Panettiere), a high school cheerleader who found that she could heal from any injury. Meanwhile, in Japan, a fella named Hiro (Masi Oka) realized he could teleport across the planet and even shift through time. Similarly, a woman named Niki (Ali Larter) discovered she had superhuman strength, while Milo Ventimiglia played Peter, a retirement home nurse who could replicate the superpowers of others.

On the opposing side, there was Sylar (Zachary Quinto), a dangerous villain who could absorb other people's powers after killing them. (It's heavily implied he would eat their brains.) Elsewhere, Jack Coleman co-starred as a character referred to only as Horn-Rimmed Glasses, a shadowy figure for a CIA-like secret organization called the Company. This was a Company, kind of like the Shop in Stephen King stories, that had knowledge and power in the world of supernatural beings. The show's cast also included notable actors like Malcolm McDowell, Clea DuVall, Eric Roberts, and many others. Its title noted that these individuals, with their newfound powers, would band together in groups of either Heroes or Villains. There's a lot more to the series' first 26 episodes-long installment, of course, and I am only giving a broad outline here.

Season 1 immediately attracted millions of fans, and it looked like "Heroes" was going to be a legit, long-lasting pop culture phenomenon. Then the second season began, and everyone jumped ship. It's rare to see something become so popular and then unpopular so quickly. "Heroes" ended up running for four seasons, but it never regained the boom of excitement from its first season. For those who bothered to stick around until the fourth season, however, they may remember a small performance from a then 12-year-old Sydney Sweeney in a 2009 episode titled "Hysterical Blindness."

Yes, that was a 12-year-old Sydney Sweeney in Heroes

"Heroes" also happened to be Sweeney's first professional TV gig. She famously got bitten by the acting bug when she was in junior high school, at which point she decided it would be her career. To convince her parents that acting was a viable job, the 12-year-old Sweeney even wrote up a fully functional five-year business plan, proving that she could be an actor with financial stability. The plan was convincing, so Sweeney relocated from her hometown of Spokane, Washington to Los Angeles. She immediately, even as a girl, started landing high-profile gigs, starring in hit series like "Criminal Minds," "90210," and Disney XD's "Kickin' It," as well as smaller movies like "Spiders" and John Carpenter's horror flop "The Ward."

On "Heroes," Sweeney only appears briefly and is simply credited as "Little Girl." She appears at a dinner table and doesn't contribute to the story at large. You'll have to look closely to see her. More notable than Sweeney's appearance, though, was the fact that the episode in question, "Hysterical Blindness," was helmed by S.J. Clarkson, a prolific TV director who helmed 37 episodes of "The Doctors." Clarkson also directed episodes of "EastEnders" and "Life on Mars" before overseeing three episodes of "Heroes."

Eventually, Clarkson made her feature film directing debut in 2024 with "Madame Web," a Spider-Man adjacent movie starring Dakota Johnson as an ambulance driver who gains psychic abilities. "Madame Web" also co-starred Sweeney, then in her 20s. It's wholly possible that Clarkson remembered Sweeney from "Heroes" and hired her as a result. It certainly didn't hurt that Sweeney's plan to be successful was working, as she has become one of the most in-demand actors of her generation. She has also appeared in ads for soap, bikinis, soft drinks, shoes, and (most problematically) jeans. Sweeney became rich and famous, just like her 12-year-old self had planned.

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