With 16 Emmy nominations for its second season alone, it’s no surprise that the Sam Levinson-created Euphoria has already been renewed for a third season. The HBO drama follows Zendaya’s Ruby “Rue” Bennett, a teenage addict struggling with sobriety, alongside her peers at East Highland High.
Zendaya, who previously won an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for the first season of Euphoria, also had a hand in executive producing the second season—but she’s already looking towards the show’s future.
“I think it’ll be exciting to explore the characters out of high school. I want to see what Rue looks like in her sobriety journey, how chaotic that might look,” the Dune actress told The Hollywood Reporter of what she hoped to see from the upcoming season. “But also with all the characters, in the sense where they’re trying to figure out what to do with their lives when high school is over and what kind of people they want to be.”
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The actress went on to describe the desire to give more depth to each of the main characters. “That was special about this season was that we got to dive into [the other characters] in a much deeper sense.”
“I think we can do that again with the third season. There’s so much talent, you want to make sure everybody has the chance to have that,” Zendaya said of her co-stars, several of whom were also nominated for Emmys for their work on Euphoria.
Zendaya on Her Euphoria Involvement: “I’m There Every Step of the Way”
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Though Zendaya was credited as an executive producer on Euphoria starting from the second season, the Spider-Man: Homecoming actress says that she’s had a hand in production from the get go—just without the title.
“Sam [Levinson] was giving me the space to be creative and to learn, and so when it came down to the second season—and also the in-between [special] episodes—it just felt like the right thing to have it in a more official capacity,” she continued. “The show has allowed me to come out of my shell as an actress, but also behind the camera, being in a place where there are no bad ideas and you feel safe enough to speak up and say, ‘Hey, what if we tried this?’”
The actress said that Euphoria has given her a unique experience. “Personally, I’m very self-critical, but I’m also very shy sometimes, so I won’t say anything. [But here], I’m given my own responsibilities. I’m there every step of the way, even through the editing, and that’s really, really special. You don’t usually get that kind of hands-on experience, and everybody is different with how they choose to produce.”
She added, “it’s a labor of love for all of us.”
Check out Zendaya’s full interview at The Hollywood Reporter.
