'Euphoria': Zendaya says 'beautiful' Season 2 has been written but filming put on hold due to coronavirus
Zendaya’s HBO show ‘Euphoria’ left fans heartbroken last year. But just a little over a year after the season 1 finale aired, fans have something to cheer about. ‘Euphoria’, the American adaptation of an Israeli show of the same name, follows a group of high school students as they navigate love and friendships in a world of drugs, sex, trauma, and social media.
The finale of ‘Euphoria’ Season 1 left things in a lurch. We saw Zendaya's central character Rue finally let go of Jules (Hunter Schafer), the girl she had fallen in love with when she returned to school after her drug overdose. On an impulse, Rue and Jules decided to leave town together, but Rue backed out of the plan at the very last minute, leaving Jules to go away on her own. Following that, we saw Rue in a semi-breakdown state walking back home as a vehicle with bright light approached her. Even though it looked like she might get into an accident, Rue was able to reach home, and after weeks of staying clean, she finally resorted to substance abuse again.
Speaking to Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors in an InStyle interview, Zendaya spoke about ‘Euphoria’. She said, “I do miss Rue. She's like my little sister in a lot of ways. And going back to that character is a home base for me.”
But then she dropped some details about season 2 of the show created by Sam Levinson, whose filming was put on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic. She said, “There is a beautiful second season that has been written, but in order to do it the way we want to do it, we need to wait until it's safer. There is an idea to do a couple of bridge episodes that can be shot safely but aren't necessarily part of season 2. So, hopefully, we will be able to do those in the coming months. I can't wait.”
Actor Jacob Elordi, who plays Nate Jacobs in the show, also had things to say about the second season of ‘Euphoria’. In an August 6 interview with Variety, Elordi said, “Sam [Levinson] changes scripts like a madman. I could tell you something now, and it would not be at all relevant to what I’m going to read when we go back. It’s ever-changing, even up until the day that we’re shooting.”
Aside from ‘Euphoria’, Zendaya also spoke about her other on-going collaboration with Levinson, a film called ‘Malcolm and Marie’, which also stars John David Washington. She said, “I'd been talking to Sam often during the quarantine. Sometimes he'd just call to shoot the s*** and chat about life. And eventually, I said to him, ‘I need to do something creative.’ So we bounced ideas back and forth, and then he started writing. Sam reached out to John David [Washington] about wanting to be a part of the project, so we fronted our own money and put it together ourselves.”
She said that the crew for the film was a very small group of people who are also from ‘Euphoria’. “We created our own little bubble and made sure that once we were in, we couldn't leave. We were able to workshop and rehearse together -- it was very much like a play. I did my own hair and makeup and dressed in my own clothes. And then we shot in black and white on film, so we'll see how it turns out. I think we were able to create something really special. And I'm grateful that we learned how to do it on our own,” she said.
Executive produced by Drake, along with manager Future the Prince, ‘Euphoria’ brags an ensemble cast that includes Maude Apatow, Angus Cloud, Eric Dane, Alexa Demie, Jacob Elordi, Barbie Ferreira, Nika King, Storm Reid, Hunter Schafer, Algee Smith and Sydney Sweeney.
No release date for ‘Euphoria’ Season 2 has been announced yet.