It’s an eye-opening experience when Americans discover Australian idiosyncrasies.
US actress Sydney Sweeney has spent months of 2023 down under filming two movies, including the upcoming rom-com Anyone But You, which shot in Sydney earlier this year.
As a result, Sweeney, 26, has witnessed some of our country’s unique cultural habits, which she shared on US talk show Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.
Fallon asked Sweeney if she learned “any Australian slang” during her time here, with the actress also shooting another movie in Queensland, thriller Eden co-starring Jude Law.
While on the Gold Coast to begin shooting in November, Sweeney was thrust into peak schoolies season, with the annual Aussie school leavers celebration becoming a laughing stock during the televised chat.
“While I’ve been there, they had this thing called the schoolies, and it’s when the high schoolers graduate, and they go and have their big huge spring break party,” Sweeney began.
“They shut down all the streets and the schoolies go out, and then the ‘toolies’ go out too, and those are anybody that is older than 21. And they put wristbands on them to know that there are tools trying to pick up younger kids.”
Fallon, 49, was tickled by the revelation, saying, “The toolies and the schoolies?! That’s so fun, I love that!”
‘Foolies’ were not to be left out, with Sweeney continuing, “And then anybody that is still in high school that goes out also gets a different colour wristband and they’re called the ‘foolies’. When they aren’t old enough to be messing around, so they’re fools.”
Fallon mused, “Oh my gosh I’m such a ‘toolie’. Yeah, oh my god, so sad.”
In some redemption for Australia, Fallon concluded, “Gosh I love Australia though, such a beautiful place. And the people there. I’ve never met an Australian person that wasn’t the best.”
Sweeney added, “It’s awesome, I love it.”
While the two Hollywood figures are only just becoming aware of schoolies, the annual celebration is basically embedded in Australian folklore at this point.
It was first held on the Gold Coast in 1976 - as a bid from hotel owners to liven up the glitter strip amid a then-quiet tourism period across November and December.
These days, up to 20,000 party goers flock to Surfers Paradise to farewell their schooling days, running amok across Cavill Avenue for a period of two weeks.
Elsewhere, Sweeney told Sydney radio show Smallzy’s Surgery on Thursday she was hoping to buy a home in Australia.
During an interview with her Anyone But You co-star Glen Powell, Sweeney said, “I love it. I’ve downloaded multiple real estate apps to look into move to Australia. I love it there.”
Powell, 35, added, “I put money on it that Sydney will have a house there by the end of the year. Sydney is obsessed with Australia.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Sweeney concluded.
She certainly made a mark on local men, with Sweeney privately messaging a young comedian who spotted her strutting the sand on the Gold Coast in November.
Local video creator Miles Shepherd shared a video to TikTok claiming he’d witnessed the Hollywood star emerging from the ocean like “a James Bond scene” while he was sunbathing on a beach.
“I was just sitting there, like this, on my towel,” he began, before re-enacting his gobsmacked reaction when he saw the Euphoria actress in her green swimsuit.
“That’s probably genuinely what I looked like. I’m still trying to process it. Hopefully it wasn’t weird. But, what the hell?”
That original video, filmed at Currumbin Alley, was watched by millions, and even caught the eye of Sweeney herself.
Taking to his social media with an update shortly afterwards, Shepherd revealed Sweeney slid into his DMs on Instagram, where she wrote, “u should’ve said hi.”
“She must’ve seen my TikTok because she sent me a DM, and I sent her one back,” Shepherd said, posting screenshots of their exchange.
Shepherd went on to say his well-thought out response was “do or die”, as he attempted to ask the star out on a date.
He added of his expertly-crafted reply: “I really set the tone with an ‘x’ in there so she knows my intentions … I don’t play no games. And I finished it off with a nice little emoji to lighten it up a bit.”
Unfortunately for Shepherd, he’s got some tough competition, with Sweeney rumoured to have struck up a romance with her Top Gun actor co-star.
While Sweeney and Powell have shrugged off ongoing reports they are an item, fans have pointed out their sizzling chemistry this week while doing publicity rounds for their movies.
Further, while being asked about their rumoured romance on the US Today show at the weekend, Sweeney neglected to mention she was engaged to US restaurateur Jonathan Davino, who proposed to the actress in early 2022.
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Powell, for his part, split from his longtime model girlfriend, Gigi Paris, in April.
Meanwhile, the White Lotus star is set to return to Australia to finish shooting Eden next year.
Anyone But You hits cinemas Boxing Day.
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