Zendaya On Euphoria's Rue: 'I Hope That's Her Rock Bottom'

Want to make a statement? Hold your official Emmy FYC event at the still brand new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. That was the setting Wednesday night as HBO reunited most of the cast of their massive hit drama, “Euphoria.” And, as you would expect, Emmy winner Zendaya was center stage.

READ MORE: ‘Euphoria’ S2 Review: A Fearless Zendaya Shines Again In Another Vibrantly Alive Season

Following a screening of the series’ fifth episode, “Stand Still Like the Hummingbird,” cast member Colman Domingo moderated a Q&A which gave everyone a moment in the spotlight. Domingo was joined by the aforementioned “Dune” star, Sydney Sweeney, Jacob Elordi, Hunter Schafer, Alexia Demie, Barbie Ferreira, Maude Apatow, Eric Dane, and, the show’s creator, Sam Levinson. Unfortunately, Agnes Cloud and Storm Reid were not on hand.

blank

“Hummingbird” begins with Rue (Zendaya) facing an intervention after her mother (Nika King) finds out she’s relapsed. It’s a tour-de-force as Rue makes her way through their non-descript Southern California suburb searching for drugs as the pain from withdrawal begins to kick in. Zendaya revealed that the episode was written several years ago and was of a few Levinson-written chapters that “stuck.” It was even written before “Trouble Don’t Last Always,” one of the two-pandemic specials that aired in December 2020 and January 2021.

“When we had that episode I think part of the emotion in that was knowing this episode was coming,” Zendaya admits. “That there was a rock bottom or at least I hope that’s her rock bottom because I was terrified. Right? I was absolutely terrified because I wanted to do it with as much humanity and thoughtfulness as possible without shying away from the ugliness and pain it can cause. And I wanted to do it the right way. And there is so much to think about because not only is she going through a lot of emotional pain, but she’s going through a lot of physical pain. And that’s all coming to the surface at the same time.”

Zendaya also says the intensity of Rue’s volatility scares her at times on set.

“I was terrified and I love the people I work with and I don’t want to say these things to them. I don’t wanna hurt them. That’s not fun,” Zendaya says. “And also, I love Rue because I think she’s one of the greatest parts and one of the greatest honors of playing her is every story that I have now gained when people come up to me and share their stories of sobriety. It’s so beautiful every single time and I take on those stories with me and they become a part of Rue every time I play her. And I get very emotional about it because I care about her a lot because she represents a lot of people that need a lot of love.”

Sweeney, who plays the romantically troubled Cassie, says she felt there was an arc to her character in every single scene she was in. From her perspective, season two was about Cassie losing friends, losing family, and losing herself. And she thoroughly enjoyed it because “as an actress, you dream of having a role like this.”

“I found these dark places within myself where sometimes Sam would have to come next to me and just pull me out of it because it was so raw and so emotional,” Sweeney says. “And that is what I dream of doing as an actor. And so being able to play characters that have such raw emotion and go through such real things, because I was a teenage girl and I wanted to love and I searched for love and I searched for acceptance and Cassie is searching for all of that. And she’s just, unfortunately, looking in the wrong places sometimes.”

One friend Cassie loses in season two is her former BFF Maddy, played by Demie. A breakup caused by Maddy’s discovery that Cassie has been hooking up with her ex-boyfriend, Nate (Elordi).

“I didn’t think much about Nate season two,” Demie says. “I did it because it felt different for her. It felt like a new journey and although there’s still was that love…when you have your first love and it feels so tragic and dramatic and dire, but at the same time, it’s this inner feeling, knowing that it’s not right. And so I think she was already kind of moving on. And so it was nice to sit with her and just think about what she wanted because when you’re in a relationship you sometimes lose yourself and all you’re thinking about is what that other person wants or even if that person’s upset, you think it’s about you, they’re upset and maybe they’re not even telling you that what they’re upset about, but you’re assuming it’s about you and you’re just so consumed in that relationship. And so, yeah, I just tried to make it more about her and less about him. Yeah, I barely got any sleep last night. I don’t know if that made any sense.

Domingo replies, “It made a lot of sense.”

“I hope so,” Demie says. “And like Zendaya loving Rue, I love Maddy. I love Maddy, I can cry thinking about her. She’s very special to me. So, thank you, Sam.”

As Lexi, Maude Apatow had the unexpected pleasure of playing the character who reveals all of the character’s faults and drama in her original high school musical. We were hoping Domingo would ask Apatow or Levinson how a public school drama department could have the budget for such sets, but, alas, it wasn’t meant to be. For Apatow, Lexi’s musical theater turn was something she could absolutely relate to.

“Sam and I talk a lot about how, I mean, I grew up doing theater and musical theater and we just thought it would be funny for Lexi to be a theater kid,” Apatow says. “I mean, the play is sort of like loosely inspired by this show that I did in high school. I was a producer and I just became a monster. I think it’s like when you’re feeling like everything around you is falling apart and I think Lexi definitely does. She like channels all of that energy into like making something. And I think that’s why she’s so intense backstage, but I think, yeah, I totally can relate to that and sort of think it’s a great escape and I just, yeah, I mean, it was so much fun too.
Austin and I had the best time. Austin’s amazing. And we rehearsed all these scenes together like we were doing a play and there was a full audience, which was, I haven’t done that since high school and we just had the best time. It was like, so so much fun.”

Euphoria” season 2 is available on HBOMax.