‘My Euphoria character swallows balloons filled with fentanyl in season 3 – it was disgusting’

From the moment it first aired in 2019, Euphoria has never been one to shy away from controversy.

Whether it was depicting a scene of rampant teen drug abuse, sexual assault or extreme violence, Sam Levinson’s HBO series has thrived on creating some of the most unsettling and graphic moments imaginable.

But, following the release of the third season, which has so far earned mixed reviews from critics, things appear to have been taken to the next level.

Speaking to Metro, Chloe Cherry, who plays Faye, discussed how Levinson asked her to create the most disgusting scene imaginable as her character swallowed golf ball-sized wrappers of cocaine.

‘Sam came up to me, and he said, I need this scene to really show how disgusting it would actually be if you were to swallow balloons filled with fentanyl and how disgusted you would actually be,’ she said.

‘He was like, “I really, really, really, really, really need you to turn the disgust up in this scene,” and I was like, all right, I’m gonna give it a go.

‘I just managed to pull it off… and when we stopped shooting, everybody clapped. I’m not even kidding, the whole crew clapped for me. They were so amazed at how disgusting I made that scene.’

The Euphoria star’s storyline was linked with Rue (Zendaya), who, five years after leaving high school, now works as a drug mule across the Mexican border for the quietly terrifying Laurie, played by Martha Kelly

Asked how it feels to play such a chilling drug lord, Martha told Metro how she actually never wanted to play the character.

‘I didn’t want to play someone who hurts kids, and I thought, I don’t want people to associate me with that,’ she told us.

‘And then I met Sam and I felt very safe and like I was with someone who was very compassionate and supportive. I still was paranoid shooting season two that people would conflate me with being this absolute creep.

‘But the fans have been so great. And I was surprised because like I said, Lori’s a hateful character.’

Desperate to escape Laurie, Rue manages to land a job working for strip club owner Alamo, played by Lost star Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje.

Speaking in a separate interview, Adewale told us what a pleasure it was to work alongside Zendaya.

‘It was wonderful. It really was. She’s such a generous, talented young actress, and we just had a lot of fun,’ he explained.

‘She’s very, very sharp, very intelligent, and I think that comes across in her character.’

However, discussing some of the darker scenes that he had to film that addressed real-life issues such as fentanyl abuse, Adewale revealed how on many occasions cast members had to ’embrace afterwards to make sure that we are okay’.

Working for Alamo, Darell Britt-Gibson and former NFL player Marshawn Lynch round out a star-studded cast.

Asked about joining the Euphoria universe, Darrell said: ‘It’s a testament to Sam’s creative genius because sometimes if there is a world or a universe that’s that big, you sort of lose connectivity to certain characters, because the thing feels too big, and he does this genius thing where he never will lose touch in connectivity with character.’

Marshawn, meanwhile, who formerly said that he would need his mum’s permission to watch this series because of how X-rated it is, also commented on how fans ‘might not be ready’ for how crazy things get.

Euphoria season 3 will be available to stream on HBO Max from 13 April in the UK and Ireland.

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