Sam Levinson’s hallucinatory high school drama was renewed for a third season back in 2022, but its future has been uncertain—until now.
Will the cast of Euphoria Season 2 return for Season 3?
Not everyone will. Back in August 2022, Barbie Ferreira announced that she wouldn’t be returning to reprise the role of Kat for the show’s third installment. “After four years of getting to embody the most special and enigmatic character, Kat, I’m having to say a very teary-eyed goodbye,” she wrote in an Instagram Story alongside a photo of fan art by her “angel” co-star Hunter Schafer. “I hope many of you could see yourself in her like I did, and that [it] brought you joy to see her journey into the character she is today. I put all my care and love into her and I hope you guys could feel it. Love you, Katherine Hernandez.”
Considering that her part was largely downgraded from main character to supporting act in Season 2, it wasn’t entirely a surprise. Speaking on the Armchair Expert podcast in 2023, Ferreira said: “I don’t think there was a place for [Kat] to go. I think there were places she could have gone. I just don’t think it would have fit into the show. I don’t know if it was going to do her justice, and I think both parties knew that. I really wanted to be able to not be the fat best friend. I don’t want to play that, and I think they didn’t want that either. I feel like with Season 2 and certain parts of it… I felt was kind of a struggle for both parties. Sam, me… it was a struggle to find the continuation of her. So that was actually really hurtful watching it and seeing the fans get upset. I just felt like maybe it’s like I overstayed my welcome a little bit? So, for me, it actually felt good to be like, Okay, I get to not worry about this and we both don’t get to worry about this, because it’s exhausting. Sam writes for things that he relates to. I don’t think he relates to Kat.”
Then, in July 2023, Angus Cloud, who played the soulful, soft-spoken Fezco, died from an accidental overdose at 25. Tributes poured in from his co-stars and fans, the latter of whom were also left to wonder about the future of Cloud’s character: Fez memorably ended Season 2 (spoiler alert) with a dramatic shoot-out with the police, in which he was wounded and then arrested. His adopted brother, Ashtray, as played by Javon Walton, appeared to perish in the same scene.
Aside from these notable omissions, however, it’s expected that Euphoria’s other major players—Zendaya, Hunter Schafer, Sydney Sweeney, Jacob Elordi, Maude Apatow, Alexa Demie, Storm Reid, and Colman Domingo—will all be back.
When will production begin on Euphoria Season 3?
This is a question that’s been swirling for almost two years now. Production was set to begin in February 2023 before being progressively delayed, and then disrupted by the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. In an interview in March 2024, Sydney Sweeney said that the show would be back in production soon. Her comments quickly went viral, after which she was more cautious when it came to speaking about the series. “Honestly, it’s like as scary as talking about Marvel,” she joked in a later interview. “I said one thing, and it went everywhere.” She wouldn’t confirm the date when filming was set to begin, and when asked if she’d seen any Season 3 scripts, said: “Maybe. I don’t know.”