Los Angeles: A new HBO show about a group of teens coping with drug addiction, sex, identity and social media portrays former Disney star Zendaya in a whole new light.
Zendaya had to reach into some of the darkest places of her mind to portray Rue, a haunted drug-addicted 17-year-old teenager trying desperately to find her way. She said she felt very safe on set, enabling her to get into character.
"I think we've just been allowed to be in this bubble that has protected us so we can go to those places," she said. "We support each other and we take care of each other while we are actually on set and that's down to, you know, boom operators, camera operators, whoever it may be - we all are kind of in this together and you feel that when you're at work. So, I think that's the number one set up for this kind of job because if you didn't have that, you can't go to those places, you know. You have to have that support."
Fifteen-year-old actress Storm Reid, best known for 'A Wrinkle in Time', said she felt "immensely proud" to witness Zendaya transform into her role. She plays Zendaya's younger sister, Gia.
"I've watched all the other things that she's done, and this is such a departure from what she's done. But she's doing it so well and so gracefully, so just to see her blossom into an even bigger flower is really cool. So I'm really proud of her," said Reid.
Actress Maude Apatow, whose parents are director Judd Apatow and actress Leslie Mann, recommends the show to older teen audiences.
"Probably, like, late teens, 20s, 30s and hopefully, like, adults will like it too. I think, yeah, but I don't know if young teenagers should watch it. It's a little inappropriate for that," she commented.
Canadian rapper Drake serves as one of the show's executive producers. Zendaya got to meet him briefly on set.
"Yeah, he came to set once and I, that was one of the first times I got to meet him, which was cool," she said. "I was like, 'Hey, I'm working, how are you?' You know, I had to real quick shake hands but yeah, no, it's great to have a champion I think for the show who is going to help us support this beautiful thing that we've been working so hard on."
Reid was hoping to meet him Tuesday night and planned an 'ice breaker' for their first conversation.
"I don't know if I'm going to bring up, like, because he's a Raptors fan of course, I am a Warriors fan, so I don't know if I should bring that up or if I should just introduce myself and see where that conversation goes," she said.
Aside from strong language, the show has lots of nudity, specifically male nudity.
"Honestly I love that," said actress Alexa Demie. "I think forever we just see nudity with women, and I think it's time for men to just show a little something. There is a lot of nudity in this show in general, but we wanted to keep it honest."
"But people get naked and that's a fact. I don't think we were going to shy away from that because it's like it's not socially conventional or whatever and also that's HBO's steez (style)," added Hunter Schafer.
'Euphoria' premieres on HBO on June 16.
With inputs from APTN
