WASHINGTON — After three seasons, the hit HBO drama ‘Euphoria’ has come to an end, series creator Sam Levinson confirmed early Monday morning.
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“In terms of the story that we set out to tell, which is a story about addiction and its consequences, this feels like the end to me,” Levinson told The New York Times in an interview that was released just hours after the season three finale aired on HBO. Levinson adapted Euphoria from an Israeli series with the same name. Since its premiere in 2019, he has written and directed nearly every episode of the show.
In its third season, glitter-filled and drug-fueled high school halls were replaced by the wild west as showrunner Sam Levinson demonstrated that his teenage characters could be even more compelling as adults, with the show touching on Hollywood, drug trafficking and Instagram influencers. Season three came out more than four years after the season two finale. The delay between seasons, Levinson has said, was exacerbated by the death of Angus Cloud, one of the show’s stars, at 25 in 2023.
Euphoria also proved its star Zendaya to be an A-lister, capable of taking a dark, dramatic and emotional turn from her previous performances in Disney Channel’s “Shake It Up” and love interest M.J. in the Tom Holland “Spider-Man” franchise. Her character, Rue Bennett, served as the emotional core of Euphoria and sometimes seemed to be at the center of the series most extreme drama, even with her often unassuming presence. Since her debut as Rue during the show’s premiere in 2019, Zendaya has amassed a multi-billion dollar repertoire of films and dramatic performances that includes the “Dune” movie franchise, the sexy tennis drama “Challengers” and, this year, “The Drama,” where she stars opposite Robert Pattinson.
Quietly, throughout the series, Zendaya’s Rue pined for the love of her best friend Jules, played by Hunter Schafer, and often found herself rhapsodizing alongside her Narcotics Anonymous sponsor, Ali, played by Oscar nominee Colman Domingo.
Zendaya, who also served as the show’s executive producer, won two Emmy Awards in the category of “Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series” for her portrayal of Rue, one for each of the show’s first two seasons.
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Euphoria itself was nominated in 2022 for “Outstanding Drama Series” for season two.
Many of Zendaya’s co-stars on the series have also blossomed into household names. Australian actor Jacob Elordi, who plays Nate Jacobs, was nominated for an Academy Award this year for playing Frankenstein’s monster in Netflix’s adaptation of the gothic Mary Shelley novel. Elordi’s Nate, a high school football quarterback turned troubled real estate developer, serves as the show’s most prominent male character and, at times, an antagonist as his reckless and abusive behavior tears into the fabric of the series core friend group.
The show also introduced many to Sydney Sweeney, who plays Cassie Howard, a popular and charming high schooler who eventually marries Elordi’s character despite his romantic history with her best friend. In season three, Cassie flirts with stardom as the character springboards from Instagram influencer status to OnlyFans to a television soap opera. Since Euphoria premiered, Sweeney has appeared in box office hits like the romantic comedy “Anyone But You” and the psychological thriller “The Housemaid,” an adaptation of the Freida McFadden novel of the same name.
Sweeney was nominated for an Emmy in 2022 for her performance as Cassie.
Euphoria was met with real-life tragedy, as following Angus Cloud’s death, series regular Eric Dane died in February at 53. Dane, who played Cal Jacobs, Nate’s father, appeared in the final season of Euphoria even as the actor struggled with the neurodegenerative disease ALS.
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