Who is Penny Jo Poplin? Everything to know about the character in Sydney Sweeney's Americana

Sydney Sweeney stars in the upcoming film Americana, a modern-day Western written and directed by Tony Tost. The film is set in a small South Dakota town where a sacred Lakota 'ghost shirt' appears on the black market, triggering a chain of events involving multiple characters. The plot combines elements of crime and cultural conflict in a contemporary rural setting.

Penny Jo Poplin, played by Sweeney, is a diner waitress who becomes directly connected to the events surrounding the stolen artifact. The character is portrayed as being able to navigate tense situations and interact with a variety of people linked to the main conflict. Her storyline positions her in the middle of shifting alliances, disputes, and negotiations that shape the film’s central narrative.

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About Sydney Sweeney's character Penny Jo Poplin

Penny Jo Poplin, played by Sydney Sweeney, is a diner waitress with aspirations beyond her current life. She admires Dolly Parton and integrates her admiration into her personal goals.

Penny Jo is an aspiring country singer who works at a local diner, which becomes a meeting place for people searching for a stolen Lakota ghost shirt. These include a mother and son, a military veteran, an antiquities dealer, and an Indigenous leader wanting to return the shirt to its community. Her job puts her in the middle of the conversations and events that drive the story.

In Americana, Sweeney appears in diner uniforms and casual clothing suited to the rural setting, with scenes filmed in small-town locations designed to reflect the story’s environment. On August 13, 2025, she shared behind-the-scenes photographs from production on Instagram, noting in the caption that:

'A few years ago I filmed this little movie with some friends and now you get to meet penny jo.'

The post marked her return to social media following public discussion of her American Eagle advertising campaign earlier in the year.

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The character’s position in the narrative

In Americana, Penny Jo teams up with Lefty Ledbetter to recover a rare Native American artifact that has surfaced on the black market in their South Dakota town. Their pursuit places them 'in the crosshairs of a ruthless criminal working for a Western antiquities dealer,' as per the movie’s plot synopsis.

In a June 2025 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Sydney Sweeney explained Penny Jo’s motivations:

“Penny Jo dreams of being able to have Dolly's outlook on life because her world feels so gray, dark, and trapped. [Dolly has] this beautiful big personality and energy that makes everything have color again, and that's what she wants.”

For Penny Jo, the pursuit of the Ghost Shirt represents more than just an adventure; it is an opportunity to advance her dreams. Sydney Sweeney said, referring to Jo, that:

“She finally sees something that can be her ticket to Nashville,”

This opportunity offers her character a chance to actively chase her ambitions rather than wait for them to materialize. Sydney Sweeney appears in scenes with an ensemble cast that includes Halsey, Paul Walter Hauser, Simon Rex, Eric Dane, and Zahn McClarnon, with her character’s repeated encounters linking multiple storylines in the film.

Sydney Sweeney's upcoming film, Americana, is scheduled for theatrical release on Friday, August 15, 2025. The film presents a multi-character narrative set against the backdrop of a small-town community impacted by the appearance of a culturally significant artifact.

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