We know and love Sydney Sweeney as the troubled high schooler Cassie in Euphoria, the terrifying and whip-smart daughter Olivia in The White Lotus, the curious Pippa in The Voyeurs, the tortured Alice in Sharp Objects, and the lost Eden in The Handmaid’s Tale. Now, the Emmy-nominated actress has stepped into the shoes of NSA whistleblower and ex-intelligence specialist Reality Winner.
Sweeney’s new film Reality landed on HBO on Monday. Based on a true story, Tina Satter’s directorial debut follows the FBI’s interrogation of Winner, the then-25-year-old employee for a National Security Agency (NSA) contractor who was suspected of having mishandled classified information. A PSA is typed across the screen in the beginning of the film: “The FBI documented the following events with an audio recorder. The dialogue in this movie is taken entirely from the transcript of that recording.” The events first inspired Satter’s 2019 play Is This a Room that premiered both off and on Broadway.
On June 3, 2017, Winner was arrested in Augusta, Georgia for leaking classified documents to the media, detailing Russia’s interference in the 2016 United States presidential election in a stealth email operation. Winner pleaded guilty in 2018 and was given the longest prison sentence ever imposed for the unauthorized release of government information – just over five years for violating the Espionage Act.
Winner was released from prison in June 2021 for good behavior. She is concluding her...
"Albo has just been honoured by TIME magazine, named among the 100 most influential figures in the world -- a recognition celebrating his transformative leadership and global impact as Prime Minis...