Since the show premiered in 2019, many of the show’s stars have become household names.
WASHINGTON — HBO’s hit drama “Euphoria” has concluded its three-season run, with showrunner Sam Levinson confirming that Sunday night’s episode was the show’s final.
“In terms of the story we’re telling, which is a story about addiction and its consequences, this feels like an ending to me,” Levinson told the New York Times In an interview released hours after the Season 3 finale aired on HBO. Levinson adapted it from the Israeli TV series “Euphoria” of the same name. He has written and directed nearly every episode of the show since it premiered in 2019.
In Season 3, the glitz and drug-infested high school auditoriums give way to the Wild West, and showrunner Sam Levinson proves that his teenage characters may be even more compelling as adults in a show that touches on Hollywood, drug trafficking, and Instagram influencers. Season 3 aired more than four years after the Season 2 finale. Levinson said the death of one of the show’s stars, Angus Cloud, in 2023 at the age of 25 further exacerbated the delay between episodes.
“Euphoria” also proved that its star Zendaya is an A-lister who can pull off dark, dramatic and emotional turns from her previous performances on Disney Channel’s “Shake It Up” and Tom Holland’s love interest MJ in the “Spider-Man” series. Her character, Rue Bennett, is the emotional core of Euphoria and sometimes seems at the center of the show’s most extreme drama, though her presence is often modest. Since debuting as Rue during the show’s 2019 premiere, Zendaya has amassed a billion-dollar film and theater repertoire, including the Dune films, sexy tennis drama Contenders and this year’s The Drama opposite Robert Pattinson.
Throughout the series, Zendaya’s Lou quietly pines for the love of her best friend Jules (Hunter Schaeffer) and often finds herself rhapsodizing with Narcotics Anonymous sponsor Ali (Oscar nominee Colman Domingo).
Zendaya, who also serves as an executive producer on the show, won two Emmy Awards in the “Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series” category for her portrayal of Rue, one in each of the show’s first two seasons.
Euphoria Season 2 was nominated for “Outstanding Drama Series” in 2022.
Many of Zendaya’s co-stars on the show have also become household names. Australian actor Jacob Elordi, who plays Nate Jacobs, was nominated for an Academy Award this year for his portrayal of Frankenstein’s monster in Netflix’s adaptation of the gothic Mary Shelley novel. Elordi plays Nate, a high school football quarterback turned troubled real estate developer who is the show’s most prominent male character and sometimes antagonist, as his reckless and abusive behavior undermines the fabric of the show’s core group of friends.
The show also introduced many to Sydney Sweeney, who played Cassie Howard, a popular and charming high school student who ended up marrying Elodie’s character despite his romantic history with her best friend. Season three saw Cassie serve as the character’s springboard from Instagram influencer status to OnlyFans status to a TV soap opera flirting with stars. Since Euphoria premiered, Sweeney has starred in box office hits such as the romantic comedy Anyone But You and the psychological thriller The Handmaiden, based on Freida McFadden’s novel of the same name.
Sweeney was nominated for a 2022 Emmy Award for her role as Cassie.
Euphoria suffered real-life tragedy when series regular Eric Dane passed away in February at the age of 53, following the death of Angus Cloud. Dane, who played Nate’s father, Carl Jacobs, appeared on Euphoria’s final season despite the actor’s battle with the neurodegenerative disease ALS.
