Like Skins before it, Euphoria caused controversy for its depiction of a high school world filled with sex, drugs, and violence when it arrived on screens in the US in June 2019. But while it shocked some, it also became an instant hit, its explorations of issues like addiction, sexuality, and abuse given space to be raw, gritty, and real. Long before season one’s cliffhanger ending unfurled, the Zendaya-starring series was confirmed to be returning for another season. Here’s everything we know about Euphoria season two so far.
Euphoria season two will be released January 9 on HBO Max in the US. Episodes will be released in the UK on Sky Atlantic and Now TV from January 10.
Yes. On December 20, 2021, a full-length trailer was released. It begins with Rue wheeling around a luggage full of prescription drugs as she attends an addicts anonymous meeting. As it progresses, an unidentified character wields a gun, parties kick off, police chases ensue, and we get a further look at Dominic Fike‘s yet-to-be-named character in action.
On November 23, a teaser trailer was released. “When you’re younger, everything feels so permanent,” Rue says in the preview. “But as you get older, you begin to realise nothing is and everyone you love can drift away.”
The trailer also features previous cast members Sydney Sweeney (Cassie), Alexa Demie (Maddy), Barbie Ferreira (Kat) and Mauda Apatow (Lexi).
A first look at season two of Euphoria was shared as part of HBO’s big 2020 preview trailer. However, it has since been removed offline.
Yes. After Euphoria’s renewal was announced, the actor and musician tweeted: “Literally just got the call. Can’t say thank you enough for the support we’ve seen, wow…” She is also featured in the two trailers that have been released so far (see above).
Literally just got the call. Can’t say thank you enough for the support we’ve seen, wow… https://t.co/XJtdQaWaL9
— Zendaya (@Zendaya) July 11, 2019
There’s the question of how her character Rue would feature in the next batch of episodes, though. The season one finalé of Euphoria was certainly ambiguous and left a lot of viewers with the impression that she’d overdosed and died. However, creator Sam Levinson has confirmed she’s very much still alive and “has a big journey ahead of her”.
Aside from Zendaya, previous cast members Sydney Sweeney (Cassie), Alexa Demie (Maddy), Barbie Ferreira (Kat) and Mauda Apatow (Lexi) will all be returning for season two.
Musician Dominic Fike has been added to the cast as a character whose name is yet to be revealed. You can see him in action in the trailers above.
A casting call for season two also revealed a new set of Euphoria characters (and you could have auditioned for them, too). Check out the details of the characters below.
DARIAN: Male. 18+ to play 17. Any ethnicity. An outsider. Sensitive. Vulnerable. Mischievous. Could struggle with addiction. Definitely not the cool kid at school but one of the more interesting kids.
RAY: Male. 18+ to play 17. Any ethnicity. Attractive in a real and accessible way. Working class. Pure heart. Might be going nowhere in life but has a smile so genuine it’s not depressing. Scrappy but a fighter. Not verbose or educated – has all the words he needs.
AMI: Female. 18-20’s. Drug addict. Stripper. Hates her boyfriend. Talks shit. Can’t read a room. Can make a bad situation worse.
SERENA: Female. 50’s+, Caucasian. Sassy and tough. A real character. The kind of women who partied her whole life and attended every White Snake concert and now she has several different hustles just to make a living.
Yes. In March 2020, Euphoria‘s official Twitter account shared a photo of Zendaya (Rue) and Angus Cloud (Fezco – Rue’s friend and former dealer) at what looks like a table read.
here we go !!!!!!!!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/Qyf0fzEAdk
— euphoria (@euphoriaHBO) March 11, 2020
However, production halted early-on due to the coronavirus pandemic, with Cassie Howard actress Sydney Sweeney explaining at the time that they were hoping things would start up again in the summer – which they did.
“They’re taking everything very seriously,” she told Entertainment Tonight. “They don’t want to put their crew or their cast or anyone involved in harm. So they just want to make sure they’re staying safe and healthy. And waiting for all of it to calm down.
“I think everyone is hoping that [production] will be back sometime this summer, but they also don’t want to rush anything just in case. It isn’t safe, so I don’t think they wanna get too much hope in our minds and then have to push it longer. So we’re kind of just waiting and seeing right now.”
Mostly, your guess is as good as ours right now, but there are some storylines we can see continuing into the second season. It would be incredibly bizarre if the new episodes didn’t handle what happened to Rue after season one’s end. There are also plenty of narrative arcs – Nate’s sexuality, Cassie and McKay’s relationship, Gia’s growing rebelliousness, Kat and Ethan’s future together and whether Kat is still working as a camgirl, and what happened to Jules after Rue left her on the train – that haven’t been rounded off yet. Season two could also explore the stories of some of the lesser-seen characters like Lexi, BB, and Ashtray.
Speaking about the second season earlier this year, Zendaya told Teen Vogue: “It’s a difficult season. It’s going to be hard and it’s gonna be devastating sometimes, but I think Rue really deserves all of that care when it comes to her character because I think she represents a lot for so many people.
“I hope to make those people proud with our depictions of Rue [and] where all the characters go. I think this season’s not going to be easy, though.
she added: “It’s not going to be a fun watch, I don’t think. Sometimes.”
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly in 2019, Jacob Elordi (who plays Nate Jacobs) said he didn’t mind what happens to his character in the next season. “Whatever it is, I want him to have a life and I want it to be honest,” he said. “I truly don’t have any qualms about which direction it goes. I mean, obviously, it would be a lovely story if he turned out to be a real sunflower and lit up the world. But I definitely want it to be just true and real to his experience and I want it to kind of make sense. And I’m not sure what that looks like.”
Hunter Schafer (Jules), meanwhile, told Variety she’s hoping for some things to get worked out in season two. “I feel like there’s been a lot of turmoil that’s been simmering below a lot of these characters’ surface so I hope a lot of this turmoil can be resolved,” she said.
Sydney Sweeney (Cassie Howard) told Entertainment Tonight that “literally everything” about season two will be “darker”, especially as the group are growing up and “getting into more intense situations.”
She also hinted her character’s storyline in season two is quite unexpected, saying: “You won’t even be able to guess what’s coming… I couldn’t even guess it. Creator Sam [Levinson] called me over the summer, going, ‘So what do you think Cassie’s going to do next season? Where do you think she’s gonna go?’ I’m like, ‘I don’t know, maybe she does this or that.’ He’s like, ‘Ahh yeah. No!’
“And then he read me a little bit, and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, wait!’ I couldn’t even guess it, so if anybody’s able to guess it, you’re very good. It’s just shocking. I mean, everything with life as a teenager is shocking, so you never know what to expect.”
Euphoria’s Sydney Sweeney – Credit: Getty
In another interview with Paper, Sweeney also revealed that in her portrayal of Cassie, she “refused to sugarcoat anything” and wanted to make her “as close to the generation that we’re portraying as possible.”
She also gave some hints as to the direction her character may go in the next season. Sweeney added: “Cassie is a very real, relatable girl. There’s so many aspects of her storyline and life that different girls and people can relate to, whether it’s a broken home, alcoholic parents, relationships with boys, slut-shaming…she’s still trying to figure out who she is as a person, and I think that as time goes on you’ll slowly see Cassie figure herself out – or figure herself out less.”
An exact length of season two has yet to be confirmed by Levinson or HBO, but so far there are six episodes listed on imdb.com.
Drizzy served as one of Euphoria’s executive producers on season one, but it’s unclear at the moment whether he’ll be involved in the follow-up series or not. He hasn’t mentioned the show on his social media accounts since the finale aired, but it seems like he enjoyed the experience so it’s possible he’ll return to the team. “To the entire cast and Sam you are truly a group I am in complete awe of,” he wrote on Instagram. “Thank you for these incredible creations and performances.”
There could be more beyond the second season but don’t expect Euphoria to trundle on for ages. Levinson told THR he doesn’t have a set number of seasons in mind and noted there are always ways to expand the show, be that new characters or new plots.
But HBO president Casey Bloys told TVLine he did see there being some boundaries to it. “Well, [the characters] are in high school, so there are only so many seasons it can go,” he explained. “There’s a time limit.” We can imagine filming will continue to be based around the school then, which in reality, is California’s Ulysses S Grant High School.
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