Zendaya says Euphoria delays aren’t her fault.
Euphoria‘s salacious scenes and tendency to court controversy helped to make it a breakout hit. But the true key to its success has been the extremely talented cast.
Women like Sydney Sweeney, Barbie Ferreira, Hunter Schafer, and Zendaya Coleman helped to turn a teen drama with a clever title into one of the most-discussed, most-memed shows of the past half-decade.
Euphoria has been on hiatus for years, however. A report this summer blamed Zendaya, but she says that she’s ready to film. She’s not the hold-up. Who is?
‘Euphoria’ has not aired new episodes in YEARS
In June 2019, Euphoria premiered on HBO. The critics have been cheering it on, fans have been raving over both seasons of the series.
But since February 2022, there’s been … nothing. And the long wait until Euphoria Season 3 isn’t even close to over, because filming has yet to begin.
In July, HBO announced that Season 3 will begin filming in 2025. And yes, the new season will feature a time skip. When your characters are ostensibly high school students, delaying years between seasons can stretch willing suspension of disbelief.
In July of 2024, The Hollywood Reporter shared a claim from an inside source that Zendaya was behind production delays.
“It was all about” Zendaya, the insider alleged. “Everybody wanted to make it about Sam, but it was her.”
The “Sam” in question is Sam Levinson, the creator and showrunner. Some said that the implication of the report was a personal beef between the star and creator. Others argued that Zendaya’s career had her shrugging off Euphoria to focus on big-name film projects.
According to Zendaya, she’s BEEN ready to film more ‘Euphoria’
In a Vanity Fair interview that came out on Wednesday, November 13, Zendaya debunked the rumor.
“I will say, I have been off for a couple years, so not delayed because of my [schedule]. … I’ve been open, just waiting,” she emphasized.
Yes, Zendaya has had a couple of major projects come out in 2024. But they didn’t film this year. Both Dune: Part Two and Challengers filmed in 2024.
“I haven’t been on a set in, like, two years almost,” Zendaya recalled.
She also admitted that she feels “rusty” about her acting and sometimes wonders whether she can “even do this anymore.” (We are confident that she can)
“I haven’t read anything yet, but I’m excited to see what everyone has been working on, and what the future looks like for ‘Euphoria,’” Zendaya said of Season 3.
When it comes to Euphoria fans, Zendaya expressed a desire to “do justice by the people who love and care about” Rue Bennett.
This hiatus has not only been hard on fans. Despite the sizable pay of some leading acting roles, actors can struggle to make a living when out of work, just like everyone else. The tragic loss of Angus Cloud may have given many cast members complex feelings about Euphoria.
Ultimately, the industry just … has to stop making television like this. Eight episode seasons every 2-3 years isn’t a show, it’s a group of miniseries that share continuity. We spent most of my life poking fun at British television for sporadic micro-seasons. Didn’t America fight two wars to make sure that we wouldn’t have to do things like the Brits?
