Euphoria (American TV series)


Euphoria is an American psychological teen drama television series created and principally written by Sam Levinson for HBO. It is based on the Israeli miniseries of the same name created by Ron Leshem and Daphna Levin. The series stars Zendaya as Rue Bennett, a troubled teenage drug addict who struggles to get sober, find her place in the world, and adjust to her relationships after rehab. Though Rue is the central focus of the show, the beginning of most episodes provides backstories for the rest of the main characters.
Euphorias executive producers include Levinson, Canadian rapper and singer Drake, Zendaya, Ron Leshem, and Gary Lennon. The series is both set and filmed in California; filming locations include Ulysses S. Grant High School in Los Angeles and Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City. The series has received generally positive reviews, with praise for its cinematography, score, performances of the cast, and approach to its mature subject matter. Some critics found the nudity and sexual content excessive due to the high school setting and its teenage characters. It is the fourth most-watched HBO series since 2004, behind Game of Thrones, The Last of Us, and House of the Dragon. The show additionally shares the same universe as Levinson's 2023 television series The Idol.
The first season of Euphoria premiered on June 16, 2019, and concluded on August 4, consisting of eight episodes. Two one-hour specials were broadcast in December 2020 and January 2021. The eight-episode second season premiered on January 9, 2022, and concluded on February 27. The third season is set to premiere on April 12, 2026 and will be set away from the high school setting of the first two seasons. The series has received numerous accolades, including a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series. For her performance, Zendaya has won two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Critics' Choice Television Award, and a Golden Globe Award for Best Lead Actress in a Drama Series. Sydney Sweeney, Colman Domingo, and Martha Kelly have also received Emmy nominations for their acting, with Domingo winning Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his performance as Ali.

Premise

Euphoria follows high schoolers in the fictional town of East Highland, California, who seek hope while balancing the strains of love, loss, sex, and addiction.

Cast and characters

  • Zendaya as Rue Bennett, a queer teenage drug addict who returned from rehab and struggles to become sober while finding her place in the world. She has an on-and-off relationship with Jules, whom she often lies to in her struggle to stay clean during their relationship. Rue serves as the series narrator and knows intimate details about various characters.
  • Maude Apatow as Lexi Howard, Rue's childhood best friend and Cassie's younger sister who has trouble finding her confidence. She tries to help Rue beat her addictions with limited success.
  • Angus Cloud as Fezco O'Neill, a local drug dealer who has a close relationship with Rue and his adopted brother Ashtray.
  • Eric Dane as Cal Jacobs, Nate's closeted bisexual real-estate venturing father who has a dangerous double life and hidden past.
  • Alexa Demie as Maddy Perez, a popular cheerleader and Cassie's best friend. She is Nate's on-and-off girlfriend.
  • Jacob Elordi as Nate Jacobs, a star high school football player and Maddy's on-and-off abusive boyfriend, whose severe anger issues mask his sexual insecurities.
  • Barbie Ferreira as Kat Hernandez, a girl fighting for body positivity while exploring her sexuality and self-confidence.
  • Nika King as Leslie Bennett, Rue and Gia's mother who struggles living with her daughter's addiction.
  • Storm Reid as Gia Bennett, Rue's younger sister who became traumatized after finding her following an overdose.
  • Hunter Schafer as Jules Vaughn, a transgender girl who enters into a turbulent relationship with Rue after moving to East Highland with her father. She later becomes Rue's on-and-off girlfriend and explores her sexuality and personal identity as a transgender teen.
  • Algee Smith as Chris McKay, a young football player and Cassie's ex-boyfriend who has difficulties adjusting to college.
  • Sydney Sweeney as Cassie Howard, Lexi's older sister, Maddy's best friend, and McKay's ex-girlfriend with an infamous sexual history that continues to haunt her.
  • Colman Domingo as Ali Muhammed , a man in recovery from drug addiction who often speaks at Rue's Narcotics Anonymous meetings and eventually becomes her sponsor and mentor.
  • Javon "Wanna" Walton as Ashtray, Fezco's unofficially adopted "little brother" and a drug dealer.
  • Austin Abrams as Ethan Daley, Kat's boyfriend who later stars as the lead in Lexi's play.
  • Dominic Fike as Elliot, a new friend of Rue's, who begins to come between her and Jules' budding romantic relationship.
  • Martha Kelly as Laurie, a former school teacher turned drug dealer.
  • Chloe Cherry as Faye, a drug addict who befriends Fezco and Ashtray after she is wanted by the police.
  • Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
  • Toby Wallace

    Episodes

Season 1 (2019)

Specials (2020–2021)

Season 2 (2022)

Production

Conception

In 2006, Sam Levinson began drafting different versions of what eventually became Euphoria, based on his experience with drugs as a teenager. He was invited to a meeting with HBO about an adaptation of the 2012 Israeli television series Euphoria created by Ron Leshem, Daphna Levin, and Tamira Yardeni. In 2019, Levinson said HBO's head of drama, Francesca Orsi, liked the "raw and honest" portrayal of drug use and other teenage problems in the Israeli series. In a press release, Orsi described the series as "Kids meets Trainspotting" with no parental supervision.
The concept for Euphoria was based on Levinson's personal experiences as a teenager and his struggles with anxiety, depression, and drug addiction. In a meeting with Orsi, he recalled: "We just had a conversation about just life and her life and my life and various struggles that, you know, we've been through and things and she said, 'Great, you know, well go and write that' and I said 'What?' and she goes 'Everything we just talked about'". Levinson has also cited teenage anxiety as a whole as an influence for the series: "There is this consistent anxiety that I think exists in this generation that I think informed the whole filmmaking process."
In June 2017, it was reported that the series was in development at HBO.

Production team

Euphoria is a co-production of The Reasonable Bunch, A24, Little Lamb, DreamCrew, and HBO Entertainment. It has 16 executive producers, including Levinson, Leshem, Levin, Yardeni, Hadas Mozes Lichtenstein, Mirit Toovi, Yoram Mokadi, Gary Lennon, Zendaya, Canadian rapper Drake, Future the Prince, Ravi Nandan, and Kevin Turen. The pilot episode was directed by Augustine Frizzell.
Levinson has served as Euphorias showrunner since its premiere, and has written every episode. He has directed every episode except the pilot and the season one episodes "03 Bonnie and Clyde" and "The Next Episode", which were respectively directed by Jennifer Morrison and Pippa Bianco.
The production was given a pilot order on March 13, 2018, and on July 30, it was announced that HBO had given the production a series order. The series was renewed for a second season on July 11, 2019.
Out of respect for the actors and extras involved, filming of nudity was conducted on a closed set, and for sex scenes, an intimacy coordinator was used.
Production for the second season was scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2020, with the first table read on March 11, but the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the production. Production resumed in March 2021, with filming from April to November. HBO defended the series against allegations of a toxic work environment during the production of the second season, writing: "The well-being of cast and crew on our productions is always a top priority. The production was in full compliance with all safety guidelines and guild protocols. It's not uncommon for drama series to have complex shoots, and COVID protocols add an additional layer. We maintain an open line of communication with all the guilds, including SAG-AFTRA. There were never any formal inquiries raised."
Before the series' second season, HBO ordered two specials. The first, "Trouble Don't Last Always", premiered on December 6, 2020, and follows Rue as she deals with the aftermath of leaving Jules at the train station and relapsing. The second, "Fuck Anyone Who's Not a Sea Blob", premiered on January 24, 2021, and follows Jules's side of the story. The second episode was co-written and executive produced by Levinson and Hunter Schafer. HBO announced that the special episodes would air two days early on HBO Max.
On February 4, 2022, HBO renewed the series for a third season. In September 2022, HBO's CEO Casey Bloys said the series could go beyond four seasons, and would not end after the third season. Production of the third season was set to start in February 2023, aiming for a late 2023 release, but according to a Vogue interview with Apatow, filming was set to start in the second half of 2023. On a podcast, series costume designer Heidi Bivens said that preparations would begin in May 2023, with filming starting in June 2023. The third season production was disrupted by the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike, with Jeremy O. Harris calling out to David Zaslav, saying, "He's not a scab. David Zaslav, make a deal. That's what I'll say about Season 3 of Euphoria. Make a deal, David. It's easy. Just come to that table." In May 2023, Euphoria was comfirmed to take place in the same universe as Levinson's 2023 television series The Idol. Euphoria series regular Alexa Demie makes an uncredited cameo appearance in the series' first episode.
Pre-production for the third season had begun by December 2023. On March 12, 2024, Sydney Sweeney revealed in an MTV interview with Josh Horowitz that filming for the third season was due to "start soon". However, on March 25, 2024, it was reported shooting was postponed indefinitely amidst speculation that the series would not return. HBO announced on July 12, 2024, that cast members had signed on for a third season which would aim for a January 2025 start date. In August 2024, while appearing on an episode of Call Her Daddy with Alex Cooper, Schafer stated that "he real tea is I have no f-king idea what's going on" with production on the series' third season. While Zendaya stated she did not "really have much of an answer" for the future of Euphoria other than it was set to start filming in January 2025, Domingo stated that Levinson had "told me some of it, and it's going to be groundbreaking."