Euphoria

**Euphoria** is an American teen drama television series created by American actor and filmmaker Sam Levinson, loosely based on the Israeli miniseries of the same name, exclusively for the American pay television network, HBO.

The entire eight-episode series was made available at launch.

## Premise

*Euphoria* follows a group of high school students through their experiences of sex, drugs, friendships, love, identity and trauma.

## Cast

### Main

* Zendaya as Rue Bennett, a teenaged recovering drug addict struggling to find her place in the world
* Maude Apatow as Lexi Howard, Rue's childhood best friend, and Cassie's younger sister
* Angus Cloud as Fezco, a local drug dealer with a close relationship to Rue
* Eric Dane as Cal Jacobs, Nate's father who is hiding secrets from his family
* Alexa Demie as Maddy Perez, Nate's on-again and off-again girlfriend
* Jacob Elordi as Nate Jacobs, a high school athlete whose anger issues mask his sexual insecurities
* Barbie Ferreira as Kat Hernandez, a body-conscious teen exploring her sexuality
* Nika King as Leslie Bennett, Rue and Gia's mother
* Storm Reid as Gia Bennett, Rue's younger sister
* Hunter Schafer as Jules Vaughn, a transgender girl who quickly befriends Rue after moving into town
* Algee Smith as Christopher McKay, a young football player and Cassie's boyfriend who is having difficulties adjusting to college
* Sydney Sweeney as Cassie Howard, Lexi's older sister and Christopher's girlfriend with an infamous sexual past that continues to affect her life

## production

### Development

On June 1, 2017, it was announced that American television network HBO was developing an adaptation of the 2012 Israeli television series *Euphoria* created by Ron Leshem, Daphna Levin, and Tmira Yardeni. The production was expected to be written by Sam Levinson who was also set to executive produce alongside Leshem, Levin, Yardeni, Hadas Mozes Lichtenstein, Mirit Toovi, Yoram Mokadi, and Gary Lennon. Sam Levinson based the series on his own experiences as a teenager, including his struggles with drug addiction. "There is this consistent anxiety that I think exists in this generation, that I think, informed the whole filmmaking process..."

On March 13, 2018, HBO Programming President Casey Bloys announced at the INTV conference in Jerusalem that the network had given the production a pilot order. It was further announced that A24 would serve as a production company for the pilot.

On March 27, 2018, it was announced that Augustine Frizzell would direct the pilot episode and serve as co-executive producer. On July 30, 2018, it was announced that HBO had given the production a series order and that every episode of the series will be written by Levinson. Additional executive producers were to include Drake, Future the Prince, Ravi Nandan, and Kevin Turen, while production companies involved included A24 Television.

### Release

On June 5, 2018, it was announced that the pilot would star Zendaya, Storm Reid, Maude Apatow, Brian "Astro" Bradley, Eric Dane, Angus Cloud, Alexa Demie, Jacob Elordi, Barbie Ferreira, Nika King, Hunter Schafer, and Sydney Sweeney. On October 31, 2018, it was reported that Algee Smith had been cast to replace Brian "Astro" Bradley in the series regular role of McKay. It was further reported that Austin Abrams had also been cast in the series. In April 2020, it was announced Kelvin Harrison Jr. had joined the cast of the second season.

Confirmed locations include Sony Studios in Los Angeles, Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrance, and Ulysses S. Grant High School in Valley Glen. Production for the second season would start in the second quarter of 2020, with the first table read taking place on March 11. However, it was delayed indefinitely, according to Deadline Hollywood, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On July 11, 2019, the series was renewed for a second season.

## Reception

*Euphoria* received positive reviews from critics, who praised its cinematography, story, performances, specifically those of actresse Zendaya and Hunter Schafer, and approach to its mature subject matter, although it did become the subject of controversy due to its use of nudity and sexual content, which some critics perceived to be excessive.

### Critical

The series, however, was met with a positive response from critics, with much of the praise going to its acting, story, visuals, and approach to mature subject matter. On the film-and-television review aggregation website *Rotten Tomatoes* the first season has a positive score of 82%, with an average rating of 7.31/10 based on 93 critical reviews, resulting in it being designated "Certified Fresh". The website's critical consensus summary states, "Though at times hard to watch, Euphoria balances its brutal honesty with an empathetic – and visually gorgeous – eye to create a uniquely challenging and illuminating series, held together by a powerfully understated performance from Zendaya." *Metacritic*, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 68 out of 100, based on 26 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Ben Travers of *IndieWire* praised the show's authenticity and how HBO "grounds itself in stark reality." As well, he praised Zendaya's performance and narration, and how she manages to fulfill the leading role.[35] Tim Goodman of *The Hollywood Reporter* praised Zendaya's performance and the handling of the subject matter. Pilot Vireut of Observer praised the show as being visually stunning, as well as the ensemble performance, but criticized the writing as "shaky, filled with clunky lines", and recommended that the show "keep its focus narrow".

The series garnered criticism from the *Parents Television Council* after it was reported that one of the episodes contained "close to 30 penises [flashing] onscreen" and the onscreen statutory rape of a character. The Parent Television Council also criticized the show for marketing "graphic adult content" towards teens.

### Awards

The series received nominations for the British Academy Television Award for 'Best International Programme', and the TCA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Drama. For her performance, Zendaya received a Critics' Choice Award and a Satellite Award nomination for Best Actress in a Drama Series, the latter of which she won.

### Ratings

The show's premiere averaged 577,000 viewers in its time slot, a number which increased to one million following the same-night linear replay and preliminary viewing on HBO Go/Now. The hashtag #EuphoriaHBO trended number one in the United States and number three worldwide on Twitter after the premiere.

## Trivia

* The series' numerous promotional posters for the series were designed by Percival & Associates.