Zendaya’s ‘Euphoria’ Role Almost Went To Someone Else

In Sam Levinson’s Euphoria, Rue serves as both the main character and the narrator. However, that role could have been played by a newcomer to acting and not Zendaya.

Zendaya is famous for multiple successful franchises, as she juggles MJ in Spider-Man and Euphoria at the same time. The inside info about her almost not getting that HBO role was shared by the series’ casting director Jennifer Venditti, who is one of the nominees for the Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series award at the 2022 Emmys.

According to Variety, Zendaya was always the top choice for the role, but Venditti recalled a time when she and Levinson were kind of considering an unnamed “young woman” who had been discovered by her team.

Although this person had no acting experience, she continued, but shared a “similar” emotional story with the disturbed character. Therefore, it could bring up a potential creative opening for the series.

“But with a TV show, it can be many years [of work. We all loved her, but when we went through the rigor of the process, we didn’t know if she could handle what it would take in terms of stamina.”

The aforementioned actor also worked with a coach, with the main goal of helping them in developing into the anticipated heaviness of the written material. Comparing it to what Zendaya later contributed to the role, for which she also made a huge impact by winning an Emmy Award, Venditti commended what eventually happened to the Rue character.

“Because here’s Zendaya, who has none of the life experiences of Rue, who was able to dig into her toolbox and access it in such a beautiful way.”

Severance, Stranger Things, Yellowjackets, Succession, and Ozark are other dramas up for this year’s Outstanding Casting award. The latter finished filming its fourth and final season back in April. The divisive series finale was directed by lead actor Jason Bateman.

However, there will probably be a long wait until the premiere of new episodes of Euphoria’s upcoming Season 3. Stay tuned to Thirsty to get the latest updates.

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