How did Angus Cloud die? Sam Levinson reveals why he kept Fezco alive in ‘Euphoria’ Season 3
The trippy teen drama 'Euphoria' is set to return to HBO with Season 3 after four years. The series, created and written by Sam Levinson, debuted in June 2019 and premiered its second season in January 2022. At the end of Season 2, the drug addict Ruby Bennett, aka Rue (Zendaya), breaks up with Jules Vaughn (Hunter Schafer) and stays clean for the time being. Moreover, her good-hearted drug dealer, Fezco O'Neill (Angus Cloud), gets embroiled in an intense shootout with the SWAT team during a raid on his house. He is arrested and taken into custody after his adoptive younger brother, Ashtray (Javon ‘Wanna’ Walton), is gunned down, leaving him heartbroken. Sadly, actor Angus Cloud passed away from an accidental drug overdose on July 31, 2023, at the age of 25. He had struggled with substance abuse for several years and died two months after his father, Conor Hickey, passed away from mesothelioma, a rare type of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos fibers.
Levinson spoke to The Hollywood Reporter during the show's premiere on April 7 and talked about keeping Cloud's memory alive. "I loved Angus very deeply and I fought very hard to keep him clean while he was here. I think when he passed away, it made me sort of step back and go what is the story I want to tell, what is it I want to say? What matters in life?” He further added, “And if I was going to do another season I wanted to make sure that it spoke to kind of a larger idea about meaning and purpose and who we are. It made me want to kind of tackle the idea of faith and belief in something greater than ourselves." Since Cloud passed away before filming began on the latest season, he won't be physically present in Season 3. However, his character is alive in the series. "I couldn’t keep him alive in real life, but I could keep his character alive in the show. I kept him alive and the character has got a great arc. I think he’d be very proud of it," Levinson shared.
The latest season of 'Euphoria' will feature the cast of high school students after five years' jump and follow their lives as adults trying to make their way in the real world. The trailer for Season 3 shows Cassandra Howard, aka Cassie (Sydney Sweeney), and Nathaniel Jacobs, aka Nate (Jacob Elordi), tying the knot, while his ex-girlfriend, Madeleine Perez, aka Maddy (Alexa Demie), focuses on making her career in Hollywood with Alexis Howard, aka Lexi (Maude Apatow). While Rue gets drawn back into the world of drug-dealing, Vaughn lives as a sugar baby. After the series' future speculations grew, Zendaya confirmed that Season 3 will mark the final chapter and bring the characters' journeys to a definite end.
In addition to the main cast, the show also features Colman Domingo, Martha Kelly, Toby Wallace, Chloe Cherry, Alanna Ubach, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Nika King, Melvin Bonez Estes, Paula Marshall, Sophia Rose Wilson, Zak Steiner, Daeg Faerch, and Marsha Gambles. The highly anticipated eight-part Season 3 of 'Euphoria' is set to drop from April 12 to May 31 on HBO.
