Every week, we get more and more obsessed with Euphoria. Now in it's second season, this character-driven series is one of the most popular television series streaming at the moment. It's adored for its honesty and insightfulness, playful fashion and makeup, complex personalities, brilliant score, and artful presentation. It's an intelligent deep dive into at the lives of troubled Gen Zers on a journey of self-discovery.

Every week, we learn something new about the cast, the crew, and the stories of how the show is created. We've rounded up some of the things we never knew about Euphoria until now, and that make the creation of the series all the more interesting.

*Please note that this article contains spoilers.

11 Fun Facts About Euphoria

1. Creator Sam Levinson comes from Hollywood royalty

Euphoria is the brainchild of creator Sam Levinson, a filmmaker who has made movies including Assassination Nation (starring Maude Apatow, who would go on to play Lexie in Euphoria) and Malcolm & Marie, with his Euphoria star and collaborator Zendaya.

But Levinson also comes from Hollywood royalty: his father is Barry Levinson, one of the most respected comedy writers and directors in the business. He’s the man who made Good Morning, Vietnam, Bugsy, Wag The Dog and Rain Man. He’s currently writing and directing a biopic of Francis Ford Coppola, the director of The Godfather, starring Oscar Isaac and Jake Gyllenhaal. 

2. Levinson knew he wanted Zendaya and Maude Apatow for the series from the start 

When writing Euphoria, Levinson has said that he always thought of Apatow – after working with her on Assassination Nation – and kept her in mind for something. But when he went into HBO to pitch them on Euphoria, he actually took with him a series of mood boards featuring Zendaya.

“There’s just something that I couldn’t get over,” he told Entertainment Weekly. “She had this real vulnerability to her at times, and then a real toughness to her.” He knew he wanted Zendaya to star in Euphoria from the start. 

3. This is Hunter Schafer's first acting gig

Hunter Schafer, who plays Jules in Euphoria, had never acted before she was cast in Euphoria. She was working as a model in New York when she saw a call out for auditions on Instagram. Some of the scenes she had to perform in her audition included Jules in the motel in Euphoria’s first episode, and the dick pic montage from episode three.

4. Barbie Ferreira auditioned seven times

Barbie Ferreira, who stars in Euphoria as Kat, auditioned seven times before she landed her role. In contrast, Angus Cloud, who plays Fezco in Euphoria, booked the part as soon as he sent in his audition video. Euphoria is his acting debut. 

5. Before she booked the role of Alexa Demie, the actor saw signs pointing to Euphoria everywhere

Alexa Demie, who plays Maddy, believes that it was fate that led her to getting cast in Euphoria. She had almost given up on acting before she auditioned, after missing out on role after role in the leadup to the television series. When she did finally read the script, she started seeing signs pointing to Euphoria everywhere.

“When I was driving to the audition, I saw Jacob walking and thought, ‘That’s Nate.’ I just knew,” she told W magazine. “And then they had told me Zendaya was up for Rue, and I saw a license plate that said ‘ZISRUE’ – and we all call her Z. All this crazy shit. I even went to a deli and was getting a sandwich and the cheese was called Euphoria.” 

6. Sydney Sweeney wrote a book to prepare for the character of Cassie 

Actor Sydney Sweeney, who plays Cassie, went to a whole other level to understand her character.

“I create an interactive timeline, journal, diary of their entire lives from the day they were born to the first page of the script,” Sweeney has said. “I buy a book and I decorate the whole thing and write tons of stuff down.” Which means that yes, Sweeney knows all of Cassie’s backstory, and has ideas for her entire childhood and adolescence that we haven’t seen on screen in Euphoria.

7. Not all the nudity is real

There is a lot of full frontal nudity in Euphoria. Some of it is achieved through the use of prosthetics. Eric Dane – Grey’s Anatomy’s McDreamy himself – has used a prosthetic appendage in his scenes in the series, for example. But then in the first episode of season two, we see a male actor going to the bathroom while Cassie is hiding in the tub. The actor, Ansel Pierce, shared on TikTok that he did not use a prosthetic while filming that scene. So… There you go. 

8. The whole of season two of Euphoria was shot on film 

So much so, that Kodak had to make “a couple thousand rolls” of a special 35mm film called Ektachrome, discontinued in the 2000s, so that Euphoria could be made. “I think it captures skin tones better than anything and that’s really important, especially with a piece like this,” the cinematographer has said. 

9. Cassie’s bathtub scene in the first episode of season two was shot over two days 

“I was in and out of [the bathtub] quite a bit. We became acquainted!” Sweeney has said. And because the party was a night shoot, work started at six in the evening and finished at five the following morning. “We were so tired,” Apatow has admitted. The entirety of the New Year’s Eve party in the first episode of season two took two weeks of night shoots to film. 

10. Yes, some of the details of Nate and Fezco’s fight in the first episode of season two were real 

Cloud, who plays Fezco, really did hit Jacob Elordi, who plays Nate, on the head with a glass bottle. “They said they were made out of sugar, but they didn’t taste like sugar,” Cloud has said. “They didn’t really feel like sugar, either,” Elordi has added.

To film the actual fight, Cloud had to punch the floor – “for like three hours,” he has said – which was exhausting. “My arms were sore,” Cloud has said. 

11. Tom Holland visited the set of Euphoria season too many times

The Spider-Man star, and boyfriend of Zendaya, visited Euphoria’s 2020 set “at least 30 times” and has said that he hopes one day to make a cameo on the series. We’d like to see it.

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