Last month, HBO confirmed that “Euphoria” Season 3 will start shooting in January 2025. But that’s news to star Hunter Schafer, who was frank about what she knows about the latest season. “The real tea is I have no f*cking idea what’s going on,” said the “Cuckoo” actress, “and you can ask literally all of the cast.”
READ MORE: HBO Confirms ‘Euphoria’ S3 Will Star Shooting In January 2025
IndieWire reports that Schafer made her comments a new episode of the “Call Her Daddy” podcast as part of her “Cuckoo” press tour. And Schafer’s comments run counter to what fellow “Euphoria” actor Eric Dane had to say about the show’s return earlier this week to Variety. Whereas Dane is excited and “optimistic” about the new season, Schafer is apparently clueless about it, and attests the rest of the principal cast, including Zendaya, Jacob Elordi, and Sydney Sweeney, are too.
That comes with little surprise for those who followed the “Euphoria” S3 saga over the past year. First, last year’s strikes delayed the new season before reports surfaced that star Zendaya, who also produces the series, turned down Sam Levinson‘s script for S3 last Fall. After that, Levinson went back to the creative drawing board, while several outlets speculated if “Euphoria” even still had a future. Then, after HBO announced the show would start shooting again in January 2025 last month, a THR expose claimed that Zendaya wasn’t thrilled about Levinson for another reason: the rumors swirling around the set of his other recent HBO series “The Idol.” “The Idol” was an unmitigated disaster for both the network and Levinson, so it makes sense for Zendaya to want the new “Euphoria” scripts to be as perfect as possible (or, alternatively, that she’s not sure she wants to work with Levinson again).
There’s also the issue that when “Euphoria” starts shooting again, it’ll have been three years since the show last aired at all. Season 2 concluded in February 2022 and since then, several of its main cast members have launched their careers. And then there’s the tragic death of Angus Cloud, who played Fez, last year, as well as Barbie Ferreira‘s exit from the show in two years ago. Ferreira left the show due to creative differences with Levinson; could that be an emergent pattern regarding Zendaya? That’s speculation at best, but given Schafer’s new comments, there’s clearly a discrepancy between what HBO promotes about the upcoming season and what its cast members know about.
And Schafer’s comments solidify that confusion “I think everyone feels a certain sense of anticipation for if we are supposed to do Season 3,” Schafer said on the podcast. “Obviously I’m still coming to qualms about what’s happened and losing people that we really loved and were a part of this family and everything. If we do go back, that’s going to be tough.” But there’s also internal politics at HBO at play here too. “I think there’s a world in which we can channel that into making it a beautiful Season 3 if it is supposed to happen, but I think that shit really threw everyone for a loop,” Schafer continued. “And then there’s all these industry, whatever, political things that go into whether or not this is happening, but that’s emotionally … a big part of what’s happening, too.”
Like Elordi and Sweeney, Schafer’s career has blossomed since “Euphoria” last aired. She recently starred in Yorgos Lanthimos‘ “Kinds Of Kindness” and the aforementioned “Cuckoo,” in theaters tomorrow. And the actress has arguably her biggest role coming up: starring opposite Michelle Yeoh in the Prime Video series “Blade Runner 2099.” That casting was a bit of a surprise, especially since Schafer planned to exit TV after “Euphoria” S2. “I feel like I did TV, and that was such a great intro to acting, but, since moving into films, I realized I love the film format so much more — TV is a beast,” Schafer said. “I was really under the impression with myself that I was not going to do TV after “Euphoria” is over.” Schafer will also star in David Lowery‘s upcoming “Mother Mary” with Anne Hathaway and Michaela Coel.
So what should “Euphoria” fans believe about the upcoming season? HBO certainly wouldn’t announce plans to shoot the series next January if they didn’t plan to, but why is the cast still in the dark about its production schedule? Granted, that start date is still five months away, but it hints that the drama and mystery surrounding this series is still far from over. And as TV watchers latch onto different shows and the zeitgeist that launched “Euphoria” fades, does anyone really care anymore, including its stars? Time will tell what Levinson and HBO have in store for audiences.