Plagued by tragic losses, strikes, and simmering tension, HBO’s hit finally returns after a four-year hiatus on April 12.
A lot can happen in four years—and for Levinson and his cast, that’s an understatement. After making two seasons of the hit series that launched half a dozen careers, won several Emmys, and became a watercooler show for its edgy storytelling and boundary-pushing performances, Euphoria hit a wall.
“The fact that we’re actually here and we’re able to pull this season off—that’s nothing short of a miracle,” Levinson said as he welcomed the crowd to the TCL Theater in Hollywood. The show’s stars, Zendaya, Jacob Elordi, Sydney Sweeney, Hunter Schafer, Maude Apatow, and Alexa Demie were all in attendance. Levinson thanked them all for sticking with him, but he wanted to focus his attention on a cast member who was no longer present. “Some people asked why it took so long between seasons two and three. There were obvious factors—the strikes, trying to make a schedule work with our very in-demand cast—but the real time was in trying to figure out how to find a way to pay respect to those who we lost.” Levinson spoke specifically about Angus Cloud, the actor who had played the kindhearted drug dealer Fezco on the show, who died from an accidental drug overdose in July 2023, at the age of 25. “When Angus died, it was tough,” said Levinson, whose voice broke with emotion as he spoke. “I loved him deeply, and I fought hard to keep him clean.” The loss of Cloud was a difficult moment for Levinson, who had in part created Euphoria—which centers on Zendaya’s Rue, a high school student battling addiction—based on his own struggles with substance abuse. It also forced Levinson to rethink his approach to season three, which he had at the time been writing. He told The New York Times that he had initially planned for Cloud’s character to have a bigger role in this season, and had to rework all of that after he passed. As fans eagerly awaited the return of the series, the question of why it was taking so long began to grow louder and louder after each delay. And the delays didn’t just frustrate fans, but created a rift between Levinson and Zendaya. A source tells Vanity Fair that after the once close collaborators grew apart over the delay, Zendaya was less involved with development in the third season. Indeed, though she had an executive producer credit for the first two seasons, she doesn't have an EP credit for this new installment. However, another source involved with the project says that Zendaya was still vital to the project’s development, and did approve the storylines. “Zendaya had an incredibly demanding shooting schedule in 2025 and has several major projects that release this year so she was unable to commit to serving as an executive producer this season,” says the source. At the same time, many of the actors’ careers were skyrocketing. When Euphoria started, Zendaya was a former Disney star looking to relaunch as a serious actor. She joined the Spider-Man and Dune franchises and filmed the edgy tennis drama Challengers. This year alone, she’s starring in Spider-Man and Dune sequels, Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, and she just successfully launched The Drama, A24’s dark romantic comedy in which she plays one half of an engaged couple . Elordi was in a similar way looking to distance himself from his YA heartthrob status that he gained from The Kissing Booth and found his edge on Euphoria; after appearing in Priscilla and Saltburn, this year he landed his first Oscar nomination and made women swoon worldwide in Wuthering Heights. And Sweeney has likewise become a full-fledged, prolific movie star, starring in Anyone But You, Christy, and, most recently, the box office hit The Housemaid. So, of course, finding time in all these stars’ busy schedules was a challenge, but sources tell Vanity Fair that the biggest issue was the scripts. The 2023 writers strike again stalled the writing process, but it would take Levinson even longer to flesh out a story that worked for him and HBO. During that extended delay, reports began to surface that Zendaya had grown frustrated with how long it was taking, as she attempted to keep her increasingly busy schedule open for Euphoria. “I will say, I have been off for a couple years, so not delayed because of my…I’ve been open, just waiting,” Zendaya told Vanity Fair in December 2024. Sweeney told Vanity Fair at that same time that “there were definitely a few projects that I had to pass on because I was supposed to be going back to Euphoria.” Finally, in late 2024, the scripts were ready, with plans to shoot in early 2025. Zendaya and Sweeney both fit in one more project before returning: Zendaya filmed The Drama at the end of 2024 and then jumped into Euphoria in the new year. According to a source, Sweeney almost had to delay filming The Housemaid but was able to shoot at the top of 2025, and then move immediately into Euphoria. Shot around Los Angeles under the code name “LA Nights,” the eight-episode third season was filmed throughout 2025. The new season, which hits HBO on April 12, jumps ahead five years, with Rue hustling to pay off a debt, Cassie and Nate living in the suburbs, Jules in art school, and Maddy working as a talent manager. Even though the story has finally been completed, sources say there’s still some tension lingering among the cast. At the premiere, the actors didn’t join Levinson onstage , though they were seated in the audience and stayed for the screening. Most of the cast also skipped doing interviews on the red carpet, and with Zendaya notably arriving last, there wasn’t even time for a group picture. Zendaya also didn’t attend the afterparty at the Chateau Marmont. And just this past month, Labrinth, who has been a composer on the series since the first season, posted on Instagram that he was “done with the industry” and added: “Double Fuck Euphoria. I’m out. Thank you and good night.” In many ways, the journey that the cast, crew, and Levinson have gone on since the show premiered seven years ago is filled with similar themes that face the show’s characters: tension, tragedy, and drama. And though nothing official has been announced, this third installment is almost definitely the final season . It’s been a long-awaited goodbye.
Euphoria Sydney Sweeney Jacob Elordi Hbo
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