List of Euphoria characters

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Euphoria is an American teen drama television series created by Sam Levinson, which centres on a group of dysfunctional high school students at East Highland High School. The series premiered on June 16, 2019, on HBO.

Contents

Appearances

Key
  Main cast (credited)
  Recurring cast (3 or more episodes)
  Guest cast (1–2 episodes)
ActorCharacterSeasonsSpecials
1 2 3
Main characters
Zendaya Rue Bennett Main
Maude Apatow Lexi Howard MainDoes not appear
Angus Cloud Fezco MainDoes not appear
Eric Dane Cal Jacobs MainDoes not appear
Alexa Demie Maddy Perez MainDoes not appear
Jacob Elordi Nate Jacobs Main
Barbie Ferreira Kat Hernandez MainDoes not appear
Nika King Leslie Bennett MainDoes not appear
Storm Reid Gia Bennett MainDoes not appear
Hunter Schafer Jules Vaughn Main
Algee Smith Chris McKay Main [a] Does not appear
Sydney Sweeney Cassie Howard MainDoes not appear
Javon "Wanna" Walton Ashtray Recurring MainDoes not appear
Austin Abrams Ethan Daley RecurringMainDoes not appear
Dominic Fike Elliot Does not appearMainDoes not appear
Martha Kelly Laurie Does not appearRecurringMainDoes not appear
Chloe Cherry Faye Does not appearRecurringMainDoes not appear
Colman Domingo Ali Muhammad RecurringMain
Recurring characters
Alanna Ubach Suze HowardRecurringTBADoes not appear
Lukas Gage Tyler ClarksonRecurringDoes not appear
John Ales David VaughnRecurring Guest TBAGuest
Keean Johnson Daniel DimarcoRecurringDoes not appear
Paula Marshall Marsha JacobsRecurringTBADoes not appear
Zak SteinerAaron JacobsRecurringTBADoes not appear
Mercedes ColonKat's momRecurringDoes not appear
Tyler ChaseCusterRecurringDoes not appear
Tyler TimmonsTroy McKayRecurringDoes not appear
Tristan TimmonsRoy McKayRecurringDoes not appear
Sophia Rose WilsonBarbara "BB" BrooksRecurringTBADoes not appear
Bruce WexlerRobert BennettRecurringGuestTBADoes not appear
MeekoMouseRecurringGuestDoes not appear
Marsha GamblesMiss MarshaRecurringGuestTBAGuest
Nick Blood Gus HowardGuestRecurringTBADoes not appear
Pell James Amy VaughnGuestDoes not appearTBAGuest
Minka Kelly SamanthaDoes not appearRecurringTBADoes not appear
Melvin "Bonez" EstesBruceDoes not appearRecurringTBADoes not appear
Yukon ClementTheoDoes not appearRecurringTBADoes not appear
Fernando BeloSebastianDoes not appearRecurringTBADoes not appear
Veronica TaylorBobbiDoes not appearRecurringTBADoes not appear
Ansel PierceCalebDoes not appearRecurringTBADoes not appear
  1. Credited as a regular up to the second episode of the second season.

Main characters

Ruby "Rue" Bennett

Zendaya stars as Rue, and also serves as executive producer. Zendaya - 2019 by Glenn Francis.jpg
Zendaya stars as Rue, and also serves as executive producer.

Rue was born on September 14, 2001, 3 days after 9/11. At the time of the first season, she is a recovering teenage drug addict who is fresh out of rehab and struggling to find her place in the world. Sarcastic and introverted, she serves as the narrator for the series. [1] She lives with her mom and sister. Her dad died from cancer before the start of the series. She is best friends with Lexi, having known her since preschool. The plot of the first season mainly revolves around her relationship with Jules. The second season finds her continuing to struggle with addiction as she becomes involved with drug trafficking, and enters an official relationship with Jules.

Alexis "Lexi" Howard

Maude Apatow stars as Lexi, Cassie's sister. Maude Apatow at SXSW Red Carpet premiere of BLOCKERS (26876897268) (cropped).jpg
Maude Apatow stars as Lexi, Cassie's sister.

Lexi was born on January 11, 2001. She is Rue's childhood best friend, and Cassie's younger sister. She spends most of her teenage years in the shadow of her big sister, always feeling like an outsider and an observer of her own life.

Determined to do more and to finally step into the spotlight, she creates a play in the second season, and bases it on everything that has happened around her. At the same time, she grows closer to Fezco after discovering an unexpected compatibility, including some unusual, shared interests (such as the 1986 film Stand by Me).

Fezco

Fez is a local drug dealer with a close, sibling-like relationship with Rue. He was raised by his grandmother who is now disabled. He lives with Ashtray, whom he considers his business partner, and even though they do not appear to be related, he treats him like a brother. He starts a camaraderie (with romantic undertones) with Lexi in Season 2.

Cal Jacobs

Cal is Nate's strict, demanding father with a double life. He is married to and fathers three children with Marsha, his high school girlfriend (one of whom is unnamed). However, he has one-night stands with men and transgender youths, which he records with a hidden camera. He leaves his family and gets arrested in Season 2.

Madeleine "Maddy" Perez

Confident, combative and popular, Maddy is Nate's on-and-off girlfriend and later ex-girlfriend. She has a turbulent relationship with her family and was frequently emotionally and sometimes physically abused by Nate while they were together. Her biggest fear is ending up in a relationship like her parents' loveless one, so she often excuses Nate's acts of violence as proof of his passion for her. Despite her hotheadedness, she is kind and values her close friends, like Kat and BB, as well as Rue, Jules and Lexi. Cassie was once her best friend, before she betrayed her by having a secret fling with Nate in the second season.

Nathaniel "Nate" Jacobs

Nate is a high school athlete whose anger issues mask his sexual insecurities. He was traumatized as a child after viewing his father's collection of pornography, which featured him having sex with male and transgender prostitutes. He has harbored an unspecified fixation on Jules. He has an on-off and toxic relationship with Maddy during season 1, and he starts a secret relationship with Cassie, which damages the girls' friendship, in season 2.

Nate often has dangerous outbursts of anger and violence, of which Maddy is usually on the receiving end, such as when he chokes her in season 1 and threatens her with a gun in season 2.

Katherine "Kat" Hernandez

Kat was born on August 15, 2002. She is a girl fighting for body positivity while exploring her sexuality. She is a plus-sized teenage girl with chin-length hair, ivory skin, and dark brown eyes. [3] At the beginning of the first season, she wears cat-eye glasses and her everyday clothes often consist of average shirts, tops, and dresses, preferring minimalist makeup looks.

Leslie Bennett

Leslie is Rue and Gia's mother. After losing her husband, Leslie takes care of her children on her own.

Georgia "Gia" Bennett

Gia was born in late 2005 and is Rue's caring and loyal younger sister. The summer before Rue's junior year, Gia found her overdosing and choking on a pool of vomit, which traumatized her.

Jules Vaughn

Hunter Schafer stars as Jules, Rue's love interest. Hunter Schafer-64188.jpg
Hunter Schafer stars as Jules, Rue's love interest.

Jules is a transgender girl [6] [7] [8] who enters into a turbulent relationship with Rue after moving into town. [9] [10] [11] She has a strained relationship with her mother, who placed her in a psychiatric hospital against her will when she was 11. Free-spirited and kind, as well as emotional and impulsive, she often finds herself bearing the weight of Rue's addiction. In the second season, she cheats on Rue with Elliot.

Christopher "Chris" McKay

McKay is a young football player and Cassie's ex-boyfriend who is having difficulties adjusting to college. He is hazed by his fraternity brothers at a party and ends up getting Cassie pregnant which leads to her having an abortion.

Cassandra "Cassie" Howard

Sydney Sweeney stars as Cassie, Lexi's sister. Sydney Sweeney 2019 by Glenn Francis.jpg
Sydney Sweeney stars as Cassie, Lexi's sister.

Cassie is a sweet and popular girl who enjoys ice skating and is Lexi's older sister. Facing objectification from a young age, as well as her father leaving her family, has left the need for male validation as her Achilles' heel. She has had multiple past relationships which often ended in revenge porn of her being spread.

In the first season she enters a relationship with McKay, who she later breaks up with after he gets her pregnant causing her to have an abortion. Seeking comfort, she has a secret fling with Nate in the second season, causing her to lose her sense of self and ruining her friendship with Maddy.

Ali Muhammad

Ali is a man in recovery from substance use disorder who often speaks at Rue's Narcotics Anonymous meetings and eventually becomes her sponsor. [13]

Ashtray

Ashtray is Fez's "little brother" and a drug dealer; he is about 12 years old. He is a recurring character throughout season 1 but becomes a main character in season 2. He is killed after being shot in the head by a SWAT team member during a police raid at the house he shares with Fez.

Ethan Daley

Ethan is Kat's love interest who becomes her boyfriend.

Elliot

Dominic Fike stars as Elliot, A friend of Rue and Jules. 2021 Shaky Knees Dominic Fike (2).jpg
Dominic Fike stars as Elliot, A friend of Rue and Jules.

Elliot is a classmate and new friend of Rue's, who comes between her and Jules. He is also a musician.

Laurie

Laurie is a former school teacher turned drug dealer. Unlike her employees, Laurie is calm and soft-spoken, however, she claims to be ruthless when it comes to making her money back. She is addicted to OxyContin, and it is implied that her addiction has forced her into prostitution to earn money for drugs to avoid withdrawal.

Faye

Custer's girlfriend who stays with Fezco and Ashtray after she is wanted by the police for pushing her superintendent off the motel balcony. She is initially presented as a somewhat self-centred airhead who is rude towards Rue after she expresses discomfort over doing heroin; however, later in the series, she is shown to be kinder and forms a friendship with Fez. After learning her boyfriend is cooperating with the police against Fez, she is conflicted due to her split loyalties. Shortly before the police raid Fez's apartment, Faye signals to Fez to warn him that Custer may be recording the conversation.

Supporting characters

Recurring guest stars

Guest stars

Co-stars

Confirmed future cast

Main characters

Guest stars

References

  1. Kent, Clarkisha (July 3, 2019). "Has Euphoria's lead character been dead the whole time?". Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on January 25, 2021. Retrieved January 11, 2022. During the show's pilot episode, the audience is quickly herded into the world of Euphoria by Rue's voice. In her voiceovers, she has intimate knowledge of not just her character, but all other characters — including Jules, Nate, Kat, etc. — throughout different stages of their lives, sharing them as she sees fit.
  2. Andreeva, Nellie; Hipes, Patrick (June 7, 2018). "Zendaya To Topline HBO's Drama Pilot 'Euphoria'; Storm Reid, Maude Apatow, Astro & Eric Dane Co-Star". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on July 28, 2019. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
  3. "How To Dress Like Kat Hernandez Outfits Guide". www.costumerealm.com. Archived from the original on 2022-02-01. Retrieved 2022-02-01.
  4. "Euphoria Season Two: The Style Evolution Of Jules (And What It Means)". FASHION Magazine. 2022-01-31. Archived from the original on 2024-08-12. Retrieved 2025-02-07.
  5. "Hunter Schafer 'Loves to Play' with Makeup Looks Just Like Her Euphoria Character Jules". People.com. Archived from the original on 2023-04-04. Retrieved 2025-02-07.
  6. Wright, Chrysalis; Ey, Lesley-Anne; Hopper, K. Megan; Warburton, Wayne (2024-01-19). The Importance of Media Literacy: Getting the Most from the Digital World. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. ISBN   978-1-5275-5631-7.
  7. Goldberg, Abbie E. (2024-01-16). The Sage Encyclopedia of LGBTQ+ Studies, 2nd Edition. SAGE Publications. ISBN   978-1-0718-9138-4.
  8. Goswami, Dr Ruchi (2025-01-29). Cinematic Narratives Of Concern: Global Perspectives In Public Discourse. OrangeBooks Publication.
  9. Perricone, Kathleen (2025-04-08). Zendaya Is Life: A Superfan’s Guide to All Things We Love about Zendaya. Epic Ink. ISBN   978-0-7603-9500-4.
  10. Grčar, Anja (2021-02-12). "Euphoria: Why Jules Is Actually The Show's Main Character". ScreenRant. Retrieved 2025-02-07.
  11. "Here's Absolutely Everything We Know About Jules's Backstory on 'Euphoria'". Cosmopolitan. 2021-01-22. Archived from the original on 2025-01-19. Retrieved 2025-02-07.
  12. Andreeva, Nellie; Petski, Denise (October 31, 2018). "'Euphoria': Algee Smith & Austin Abrams Cast In HBO Teen Drama Series". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on November 1, 2018. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
  13. Franich, Darren (June 14, 2019). "HBO's teen shock-soap Euphoria is sweeter than you think: EW review". Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on July 3, 2019. Retrieved June 16, 2019.
  14. Shanfeld, Ethan (August 6, 2021). "'Euphoria' Season 2 Adds Dominic Fike, Minka Kelly, Demetrius 'Lil Meech' Flenory Jr". Variety. Archived from the original on August 6, 2021. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Cordero, Rosy (February 14, 2025). "Euphoria Sets Season 3 Cast, Adds Rosalía, Marshawn Lynch & Kadeem Hardison; Who's Not Coming Back". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 14, 2025.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Roots, Kimberly (February 14, 2025). "Euphoria Season 3: A Key Season 2 Player Won't Be Back, and Other Major Cast Changes". TVLine. Retrieved February 14, 2025.
  17. Cordero, Rosy; Andreeva, Nellie (February 27, 2025). "Sharon Stone Officially Joins Cast Of HBO's Euphoria For Season 3". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved March 7, 2025.
  18. Andreeva, Nellie (February 27, 2025). "Euphoria Adds Asante Blackk For Season 3". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved March 7, 2025.