Sydney Morgan Talks Movie Debut, Viral Fame, and Living with Ulcerative Colitis

Like several other viral sensations, Sydney Morgan came onto the scene during the COVID-19 lockdown when her unique makeup creations started blowing up on TikTok. Gaining over 10 million followers across social media, she has established her mark in the beauty world, and she is now venturing into acting and modeling like a true multi-hyphenate.

However, no matter how successful Morgan becomes, she will always use her platform by doing good. She is utilizing it by shining a spotlight on Crohn’s & Colitis and the long-lasting impacts of chronic illnesses.

Morgan does not and will not let her illness define her or hold her back. Instead, she is raising awareness and helping others going through similar hardships and “invisible disabilities,” while educating those who have not heard of the disease before. She currently works with the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation as a Take Steps National Ambassador and actively helps local children’s hospitals that specialize in pediatric treatment for long-term conditions.

OFM caught up with the 20-year-old internet star about her personal experience living with Crohn’s & Colitis, how she got her start with makeup, and making her debut acting role in the recently released horror film Shady Grove.

Congrats on Shady Grove! Can you begin by telling us what makes this film worth checking out?

Immediately after reading the script, I realized it was unlike any other horror that I’ve seen before. Even for people who aren’t typically into scary movies, I feel like they’ll like this one. It was a lot of fun to film.

What can you tell us about your character, Emma?

Simply, she comes off as an innocent girl, but she might not be as innocent as she seems.

This is one of your first major acting roles. What did you take away from the experience?

It just makes me want to do more films. Attending the premiere and seeing myself on the big screen, it was just a lot of fun and a really cool experience.

I love the concept that Shady Grove incorporates the role of women in Greek mythology and sets them in our current and controversial, Roe. v. Wade world. Can you talk more about that?

I feel like typically in horror films, it’s usually one big scary man who is in charge. Shady Grove shows a band of strong, independent women doing their thing, and that’s definitely different from anything I’ve seen before.

Although we are close to Christmas, there’s always time to take in some horror. Have you always been a fan of horror films?

Yes! Having a background in special effects makeup, I almost always overanalyze horror movies. I kind of ruin the magic (laughs). I would also look at them from the makeup artist’s, special effects point of view and be like, “Oh, how did they do that kill? What products did they use? What techniques did they use?” So, I’ve always been a big fan.

Do you have a favorite?

A Nightmare on Elm Street is a good classic. I also like Escape Room and some other more recent scary movies. I love how different they are.

Have you always had a passion for acting and performing?

Yeah, I’ve always been very into it. Then making the transition from makeup artist to horror genre just made the most sense. I helped a little bit with the makeup on set, as well as acting in it.

How did your interest in makeup initially begin?

I’ve been drawing and painting all my life. I’ve always been very creative and artistic, and I started by volunteering to face paint kids at local community events when I lived in Pennsylvania. I realized I was pretty good at it, and people seemed to like it, so then I started working on clients for proms, weddings, things involving glam makeup.

Then, after quarantine and lockdown, I started posting on a little Instagram account, as a portfolio more so than anything, just so I could show people my work and be like, “Hey, this is what I can do. Book me!” Then I saw that makeup artists were starting to use TikTok, so I was going to use that platform as a portfolio as well, just so I have another place to put my content, and I immediately started to get views and likes. I just never stopped posting.

Is there a makeup look that has been your absolute favorite to create?

I like all the big extravagant body painted looks. There’s one that I did that was probably from my chest up, and everyone in the comments told me it looked like a female Vecna from Stranger Things, but that one was really fun. Then I also did another look that was body painted from about waist up with my other friend who is a makeup artist, and it took us 16 hours total. It was a body painted flower look, and it was awesome.

You have been very outspoken about using your platform to shine a spotlight on Crohn’s & Colitis and the long-lasting impacts of chronic illnesses. Can you please tell us more about that?

Yeah, so I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis when I was 16 years old, and it was a big part of the reason why I got into makeup in the first place. I wasn’t really able to leave my house due to the symptoms of the disease, so I was looking for a hobby that I could do by myself from my house, and that was my artwork and my makeup. I was able to continue posting on TikTok because I had to take a gap year between high school and college. I graduated high school in 2020, and I had to take a gap year for surgeries, so I was home during that time anyways, so I had lots of time to focus on social media and try to build that up and eventually make it a career.

One of my first viral videos was Crohn’s & Colitis-inspired makeup. Before I was diagnosed, I had never even heard of Crohn’s & Colitis, so it was very scary and overwhelming for me. So, I want to try to educate as many people as I can and finding that community of people with Crohn’s & Colitis is so important as well. Once I found some friends that were going through something similar, I could talk to them without being embarrassed and ask questions because they’ve had it longer. They helped me get through a lot, so I’m always trying to share with people what’s going on with me, what my diagnosis was, tips on things that helped me, and building that community and trying to be there for people.

You’re letting people know that they’re not alone in this.

Exactly. I want to be the voice that I didn’t have when I was first going through the symptoms. People are not very vocal about it, so when I would look things up online, I would find nothing.

What are some future goals you hope to accomplish with your career and platform?

I would love to come out with some sort of makeup or product line. Hopefully soon. There are things in the works, and I definitely want to do more acting projects. I have a few other horrors that will be coming out shortly, and hopefully walking in a runway show, since I do modeling as well.

Stay up-to-date and connect with Morgan by following her on Instagram @sydney_morgan, TikTok @sydney_art, and YouTube @sydneymorgan. Shady Grove is available on Prime Video.

Photos courtesy of Dylan Perlot