After weeks of backlash over Cassie’s OnlyFans storyline, “Euphoria” creator Sam Levinson defended the character’s arc and revealed Sydney Sweeney rejected his early idea to shoot the role with little or no nudity.
“Well, it’s funny,” Levinson told The New York Times after the hit HBO show’s finale aired on May 31. “When I first wrote it, I was like, ‘Maybe we shoot all of this, and we don’t have any nudity. Maybe there’s ways to shoot around certain things?'”
He recalled Sweeney’s reaction as, “Are you kidding? I’m playing an OnlyFans model. You’re telling me you’re going to, like, skirt around it?”
“I was like, ‘Yeah, OK, that’s a fair point,'” Levinson added.
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Sweeney faced criticism each week since the show’s premiere on April 12. The 28-year-old actress’ portrayal of Cassie focused largely on the character’s launch of her OnlyFans account in order to pay for an extravagant wedding and other debts accumulated throughout the intense third season.
Levinson defended Cassie’s storyline, explaining the character is someone who “just wants to be loved” and “adored.”
“It feels to me like the natural progression of social media, whether it’s Instagram or any of these things – you’re the product, you’re the brand,” he said. “It’s based around external validation.”
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Levinson expanded on the show’s depiction of OnlyFans and why the platform fit Cassie’s character arc.
“Look, we’re tackling this world of OnlyFans where women are being paid to, like, whisper into an ear-shaped microphone,” he added. “There is a level of absurdity to it that is just fun, and we’re always trying to come up with ways to make it feel authentic and humorous and dramatic and also speak to the larger wants and wishes of the character.”
Sweeney also defended her performance on Instagram.
“It’s called… acting,” she wrote alongside a carousel featuring some of Cassie’s most provocative season three looks.
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It’s clear changes could have been made if Sweeney was uncomfortable with any of the nudity. Following the series finale of “Euphoria,” co-star Alexa Demie opened up about changing her mind on nude content for the show. Demie filmed a nude montage of infidelity during season one and realized she was not comfortable.
“I’m not saying I don’t love sex, and I think it can be portrayed beautifully and I know the show is portraying the life of teenage girls. But once I did it, I realized, ‘OK, I don’t love how this feels.’ So I said something, and everyone was empathetic, and I never did that again,” she told The Hollywood Reporter.
Demie was hesitant to say no at first, thinking it would cost her the role of Maddy.
“I thought that if I said no to doing them, then I wouldn’t have the part,” Demie added. “Not because anyone ever said that to me, but because I was so young, and I didn’t know.”
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Premiering in 2019, “Euphoria” is the show that helped launch and solidify the careers of many cast members – including Sweeney, Jacob Elordi and Zendaya.
The dark suburban teen drama has also featured more established figures like Colman Domingo, who has received two Best Actor Oscar nominations in the last few years, and the late Eric Dane. And it’s given visibility and recognition to other actors: Hunter Schafer, Alexa Demie, Maude Apatow and Barbie Ferreira. Angus Cloud, another of its breakout performers, died in 2023.
The show ended Sunday with its final episode.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
