The White Lotus Favorite Joins Sydney Sweeney’s Next Movie
Sydney Sweeney’s Custom of the Country is stacking its roster, landing The White Lotus season 2 breakout Leo Woodall—fresh off Netflix’s One Day—as the Edith Wharton adaptation locks its principal cast.
Sydney Sweeney has found her co-star for Edith Wharton’s social-climbing saga, and it’s a good one: Leo Woodall is in. Yes, the breakout from The White Lotus season 2 and Netflix’s One Day is joining Sweeney in The Custom of the Country, a tragicomedy take on Wharton’s 1913 novel.
What they’re making
The film centers on Undine Spragg, a young woman from the Midwest who hits early 1900s New York with one mission: move up. Undine works every angle she can — beauty, grit, pure ambition — to pry open the doors of high society. Old-money gatekeepers push back, obviously, but she keeps pressing until her luck flips. It’s sharp, messy, and tailor-made for actors who can play charm and ruthlessness in the same scene.
Who’s behind it
Josie Rourke adapted the script from Wharton’s novel and will direct. Studiocanal and Rabbit’s Foot Films are partnering on the feature. Producing duties are split among Monumental Pictures, Studiocanal, Charles Finch, and Sweeney herself — which fits, because this character is the kind of lightning-rod lead you want to build a movie around.
Beyond Sweeney and Woodall, the rest of the cast is still under wraps. Casting director Nina Gold is in the middle of filling out the ensemble, and that usually means interesting choices are coming.
Studiocanal is financing the movie solo and will handle the theatrical rollout across its territories, including the UK, France, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Poland, and Benelux. No release date yet — file it under developing, with the pieces clicking into place.
- Cast so far: Sydney Sweeney, Leo Woodall
- Writer-director: Josie Rourke
- Producers: Monumental Pictures, Studiocanal, Charles Finch, Sydney Sweeney
- Partners: Studiocanal and Rabbit’s Foot Films
- Casting: Nina Gold
- Financing/Distribution: Studiocanal (UK, France, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Poland, Benelux)
- Source material: Edith Wharton’s 1913 novel The Custom of the Country
- Tone/genre: Tragicomedy set in early 20th-century New York
- Release date: TBA
Woodall opposite Sweeney in this particular story feels like smart, slightly dangerous casting — exactly what you want for Undine Spragg’s world of pretty surfaces and sharp elbows.