The Set of ‘Euphoria’ Sounds Like an Extremely Stressful Place to Be – The Mary Sue

The Daily Beast offers a lengthy, exclusive dive into what it terms the messy, behind-the-scenes drama plaguing the production of HBOs hit teenage wasteland series Euphoria. As the show has gained accolades and an obsessive audience in its second season, so too have issues behind the scenes apparently ballooned.

Its worth reading the entire Beast piece in full. Unlike the interpersonal frictions that fuel Euphoria, the alleged issues offscreen dont seem centered between the young actors. Instead, there appears to be tension between creator and writer Sam Levinson and some of his cast (and maybe HBO?), as well as what sounds like difficult and draining working conditions for both cast and crew. Some actors, like Barbie Ferreira, are said to be upset about the direction or sidelining of their characters in season 2, with Ferreira alleged to have walked off the set multiple times.

Even when cast members praise Levinsons willingness to change a scene at their behest or take their feedback, it feels a bit cutting. Syndey Sweeney, who plays Cassie, seems to appreciate that Levinson is so willing to change up scenes on the fly, but shes also had to ask him to cut back on the amount of nude scenes he wanted for her and her character. While Sweeney is 24, Cassie is meant to be a high school senior.

For instance, Sweeney said she felt there was room to expand upon a blowout fight between Nate and Cassie, and Levinson ended up writing a five-page scene right then and there. Another timeSweeney toldThe Independentthat she gently pushed back on Levinson over some scenes that required nudity. There are moments where Cassie was supposed to be shirtless and I would tell Sam, I dont really think thats necessary here. He was like, OK, we dont need it, she explained.

The article also offers an intriguing look into what happens these days when a show captures a young and extremely online fandom. Fans pore over every inch of Euphoria as though it were a mystery like Yellowjackets or Lost, generating wild theories, and the spotlight is mercilessly on its young stars.

Of course, much in the Beast exclusive amounts to so many whispers and gossip and quotes from other interviews, with several central figures declining to comment. Everything here is, shall we say, extremely high school. I hope for the sake of all involved that the network takes steps to help the cast and crew feel comfortable and graduates them to more pleasant conditions.

(via The Daily Beast, image: HBO)

Here are some other things that we saw today:

And finally:

LMAO LOL let me out of this timeline. But its finally Friday! What did you see this fine pre-weekend day?

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The Set of 'Euphoria' Sounds Like an Extremely Stressful Place to Be - The Mary Sue