“Euphoria” Creator Sam Levinson Breaks Down How The Characters Have Changed Since High School

Euphoria’s evolution across three seasons on HBO is inseparable from the singular gritty vision of creator Sam Levinson and the performances of its standout cast, including Zendaya, Hunter Schafer, Sydney Sweeney, Alexa Demie, Jacob Elordi, and Barbie Ferreira. The early seasons avoid typical pop-culture high school tropes and centered on the harsh realities of teenage life — addiction, identity, sexuality, and trauma — anchored by Zendaya’s Emmy‑winning portrayal of Rue Bennett.

As the show progresses into its third season, it shifts toward a more adult lens as its cast ages out of high school, exploring the long‑term emotional fallout and consequences of their earlier choices. Season 3 is influenced by dusty Westerns including the iconic Dirty Harry in its mood and tone.

Sam Levinson shares his insights on why Euphoria has become such a potent cultural force for young adults.

Your version of Euphoria was originally pitched as an American adaptation of the Israeli series by Ron Lesham. What changed?

When I initially went into HBO and they told me about this Israeli format that they had, I was curious how much they wanted me to use of the structure and characters. I went home, I watched all the episodes, I came back in, and I had a meeting with Francesca Orsi, who is the Head of Drama. I go in, expecting to talk about Euphoria, the original, and we just end up talking about my life for about an hour.

I had struggled with addiction, I had been hospitalized a couple of times, halfway houses, things of that sort. Towards the end of the meeting, Franny said, “Great, go write that.” I said, what? She said, “All the things we talked about.”

I asked, “What about the original Euphoria? Is there anything that you want me to base it on? What is it that you were responding to?” She said, “I just love how raw it is.”

From that point, there were some interesting characters, the young kid who was a drug dealer, the heavy set girl. I took those two characters as jumping off points, but I wrote my own life experiences and amalgamations of characters that I had bumped into as a young person, and went from there.

It served as an inspirational springboard of sorts. I think its raw, visceral spirit is what I took most from it.

Sam Levinson. Photo by Djeneba Aduayom

Has Euphoria evolved over time?

I wanted to discuss the portrayal of teens. Typically, teen shows tend to be the lives of kids messing up repeatedly, tears, breakups, making stupid decisions as they’re finding their feet.

In seasons 1 and 2, the approach from a writing and filmmaking standpoint was to be inside of their heads, and to see the world, not necessarily as it is, but as they wish it to be. They take on a selfish perspective and embrace it without acknowledging it. I think it lends itself to this operatic, fanciful storytelling.

But in Season 3, I think it’s, it’s almost the inverse. They’re now adults. They’re in the real world.

They’re surrounded by people who are on the edges of society. I think when you’re messing around with drugs, or you’re getting into some of these subcultures or darker worlds, you very quickly begin to realize that you’re dealing with some real criminals and scary individuals. And so, Season 3 became about getting outside of their heads and looking at the scenes more objectively as they mature.

Season 3 begins a few years after Season 2 left off. How did you plan the season?

I remember we used to get notes from HBO in Season 1, where they would ask, “Wouldn’t they be doing more homework?” With Season 3 it became a question of where to pick up in their journey.

Do I open showing the evolution, a montage of the years in between, or should I just throw the audience into the mess of their lives? The second option seemed more exciting to me. We pick up somewhere outside of Chihuahua, Mexico, with Rue (Zendaya) trying to drive over the border wall – literally.

From an emotional standpoint, it was about how to show elements of growth in their lives, but also the same cycles. When you’re dealing with addictive tendencies, that can extend to OnlyFans, drugs, or sex. These cycles tend to continue and repeat.

It’s one step forward, two steps back. I always envisioned Euphoria as the wild west of adulthood. Here are these characters venturing out into the world. I think 2020 was a big change in terms of business and how the online world could become this money-making enterprise for individuals.

I liked the idea that these are new unregulated businesses, and tying that to these young adults trying to find their way in the world.

Maddy Perez (Alexa Demie) Photo courtesy of Max

Season 3 of Euphoria contained more subversive laughs than usual. Was this expected?

We’re living with these characters and spending more time with them, and the scenes are longer. We’re not as “cocaine montage-based.” It allowed us to kind sit in these scenes and get to know these characters a little bit better. The humor is just a natural extension of that. It doesn’t matter how dark the scene is.

I’m always looking for the humor underneath the comedy, and also the absurdity of it. I’m attracted to the emotional and visceral responses an audience has that they don’t have control over, whether it’s anxiety, fear or laughter.

So, if you can have a suspenseful scene with the audience on the edge of their seat and then follow it up with something funny, it starts to unmoor them in a way that becomes exciting because you don’t know what to expect next. It’s fun to keep mining the humor and the tragedy of it and keep those things competing throughout.

Cassie Howard (Sydney Sweeney) & Nate Jacobs (Jacob Elordi) Photo courtesy of Max

How do you write for an ensemble cast?

I have a, an enormous amount of admiration for the architecture of television and how storylines are doled out evenly in each episode, but it’s not what excites me about writing. I’m more interested in following, letting the characters dictate what happens next. I strongly believe that character is plot.

If a character in a past season was a main character and now they’re less of a main character, it’s just that the nature of this season. I look at it as more of a film than anything else. I’m not as interested in the overall evenness or balance of it. I’m interested in the emotional stakes, what’s driving the story forward, and how to service that aspect of it.

What was the writing process like?

I wrote it for about six to eight months and then polished it throughout shooting. I would shoot from Monday to Friday. I take Saturday off and then Sunday, I continue to revise all throughout shooting. I’m always afraid that I’m missing something or something could be better or stronger. And there’s certain actors that begin to do interesting things with their characters.

I want to follow their lead. I naturally punch things up in real time as we’re shooting. I try to write no matter what. I try to remove self-censorship, rules, anything that could inhibit me, and just get it on the page.

Once it’s on the page, I count on my wife and producing partner to give me feedback. And also the actors themselves.

There’s a scene in Episode 8, between Maddy and Cassie, which is a long dialogue scene. It was four or five pages long and everything was said. I kept writing it and rewriting it all throughout shooting, trying to figure out the best version of the scene. By the time I got to shooting it, I thought I don’t know if it really needs words. Maybe it’s just two lines? It’s one of my favorite scenes in the entire season because of what’s unsaid.

by Staff Writer

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