After a four year hiatus, Euphoria has finally returned. On Tuesday night, the show’s all-star cast—Zendaya, Sydney Sweeney, Jacob Elordi, Hunter Schafer, Maude Apatow, and Alexa Demie— gathered for the world premiere to celebrate the long-awaited third (and possibly final) season.
Hollywood’s famed TCL Chinese Theatre played backdrop, transformed into the Wild West for the occasion to evoke the lawless spirit of adulthood and the frontier where anything is possible—some themes addressed in the new season. The red—or rather, brown—carpet stretched across two city blocks of Hollywood Boulevard, decorated with pampas grass, dried wheat, tumbleweed, gravel, and massive lava rocks.
Elordi, in Bottega Veneta, was among the first to emerge, followed by Apatow in head-to-toe Celine. Schafer showed up in a gold Roberto Cavalli slip dress. And soon, there was howling from both Apatow and Schafer as Demie strutted down the carpet in vintage Bob Mackie. Sweeney was the next to roll in, in a vintage Pierre Cardin dress from her own closet, followed by Zendaya in a slinky halter gown by Ashi Studio.
“I can’t stop smiling. It’s so surreal to be here at the premiere. We’ve been waiting to come back for so long,” Apatow told Vogue. “We’ve been working on the show since we were all 20 and 21. Hunter was 19; so we’ve all really grown up and come a long way. I’m so happy, it’s exciting and rare to be here in the same place with everyone.”
Season 3—consisting of eight episodes—starts streaming April 12 on HBO Max and begins with a five-year time jump from where the series left off. “This season, I wanted to tackle faith and the belief in something greater than ourselves,” creator Sam Levinson said. “What is it that we are worshipping in our lives? What are we putting our faith into? And what is true freedom? Those were ideas that felt very potent and exciting to enter into.”
Back in the forefront is Rue—played by Zendaya—who is working off her debts by becoming a drug mule. Rue’s former love, Jules, is in art school, but feeling nervous about having a career as a painter. “Playing Jules again was a nice way to reflect on myself when I was her age. Like her, I was starting a new career, as an actor, and it was a raw moment in my life,” Schafer told Vogue. “Euphoria was my first role—which is nuts—but it has really helped me grow as an actor. I was really scared in season one because I didn’t know what I was doing. I have a better sense of what I’m doing now. I have a tool box of things that I’ve learned over the years. I definitely feel less scared walking onto a set than I did the first time.”
Meanwhile, Cassie and Nate are living together in the ’burbs. “It’s wild!” Sweeney said about stepping back into the role of Cassie, a fan-favorite character known for her intense emotional vulnerability, desperate search for love, and ‘ugly crying.’ “She is such a crazy character and it really challenges and pushes me in so many different ways that I never knew that I could dream of. It’s been really fulfilling as an actor.” And yes, this season will bring more meme-ready crying moments. “It’s definitely emotionally exhausting and sometimes physically demanding, when I have to cry, but it’s also very rewarding,” Sweeney said. “I get to do what I love and it energizes me in such a complete way.”
