Euphoria is an American psychological teen drama television series created by Sam Levinson, which centers on a group of dysfunctional high school students at East Highland High School. The series premiered on June 16, 2019, on HBO.
Appearances Key
Actor Character Seasons Specials 1 2 3 Main characters Zendaya Rue Bennett colspan="4" Maude Apatow Lexi Howard colspan="3" Angus Cloud Fezco O'Neill colspan="2" Eric Dane Cal Jacobs colspan="3" Alexa Demie Maddy Perez colspan="3" Jacob Elordi Nate Jacobs colspan="4" Barbie Ferreira Kat Hernandez colspan="2" colspan="2" Nika King Leslie Bennett colspan="2" Storm Reid Gia Bennett colspan="2" Hunter Schafer Jules Vaughn colspan="4" Algee Smith Chris McKay colspan="2" colspan="2" Sydney Sweeney Cassie Howard colspan="3" Colman Domingo Ali Muhammad colspan="3" Javon "Wanna" Walton Ashtray colspan="2" Austin Abrams Ethan Daley colspan="2" Dominic Fike Elliot colspan="2" Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje Alamo Brown colspan="2" Martha Kelly Laurie Chloe Cherry Faye Valentine Toby Wallace Wayne colspan="2" Recurring characters Alanna Ubach Suze Howard colspan="2" Lukas Gage Tyler Clarkson colspan="3" John Ales David Vaughn Bruce Wexler Robert Bennett Sophia Rose Wilson Barbara Brooks colspan="2" Tyler Timmons Troy McKay colspan="3" Tristan Timmons Roy McKay colspan="3" Keean Johnson Daniel Dimarco colspan="3" Paula Marshall Marsha Jacobs colspan="2" Zak Steiner Aaron Jacobs colspan="2" Mercedes Colon Kat's Mom colspan="3" Tyler Chase Custer colspan="2" colspan="2" Meeko Mouse colspan="2" Marsha Gambles Miss Marsha colspan="3" Brynda Mattox Marie O'Neill colspan="2" Nick Blood Gus Howard colspan="2" Melvin "Bonez" Estes Bruce Sr. colspan="2" Ansel Pierce Caleb colspan="2" Minka Kelly Samantha colspan="2" Yukon Clement Theo colspan="2" Fernando Belo Sebastian colspan="2" Veronica Taylor Bobbi colspan="2" Gwen Mukes Leslie's Mom colspan="2" Daeg Faerch Mitch Bilster Sharon Stone Patricia Lance colspan="2" Colleen Camp LA Nights Director colspan="2" Marshawn "Beast Mode" Lynch G colspan="2" Darrell Britt-Gibson Bishop colspan="2" James Landry Hébert Harley colspan="2" Rebecca Pidgeon Ms. Penzler colspan="2" Gideon Adlon Gillie colspan="2" Asante Blackk Kidd colspan="2" Homer Gere Dylan Reid colspan="2" Madison Thompson Oceana colspan="2" Jessica Blair Herman Heather colspan="2" Rosalía Magick colspan="2" Kadeem Hardison Big Eddy colspan="2" Jeff Wahlberg Brandon Fontaine colspan="2" Sam Trammell Ellis colspan="2" Jack Topalian Naz colspan="2" Matthew Willig Artur colspan="2" Hemky Madera Jimenez colspan="2" William "Bill" Bodner Bowman colspan="2" Anna Van Patten Kitty colspan="2"
Main characters Rue Bennett
portrayed by Zendaya Janice LeAnn Brown (4 years old, "Pilot" and "And Salt the Earth Behind You") McKenna Rae Roberts (10 years old, "Pilot") Aliyah Conley (13 years old, "'03 Bonnie and Clyde") Alumière Glass (3 years old, "Stand Still Like the Hummingbird")
Ruby "Rue" Bennett was born on September 14, 2001, three days after 9/11. 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. In the first season, she lives with her mom and sister. Her dad died from cancer before the start of the series. She is childhood friends with Lexi, and develops a romantic relationship with Jules. The second season finds her continuing to struggle with addiction as she becomes involved with drug trafficking for Laurie and enters an official relationship with Jules. In the third season, Rue is indebted to Laurie and is working as a drug mule to pay off her debt. She no longer lives with her mother or sister, maintains a friendship with Lexi, but has grown away from Jules. Alamo Brown, a local crime boss who operates strip clubs and partakes in arms trafficking, frees Rue from her debt to Laurie by employing her himself. She reconnects with Jules but is busted by the DEA, and agrees to work with them to avoid going to jail herself. At the end of the third season, Rue is poisoned by Alamo as revenge for working with the DEA, and she dies by fentanyl overdose on Ali's couch.
Lexi Howard
portrayed by Maude Apatow
Alexis "Lexi" Howard was born on October 23, 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 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 called "Our Life" in the second season and bases it on events that have happened around her, including unflattering depictions of her friends. 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). In the third season, Lexi has continued to maintain a friendship with Rue and has become an assistant to Patricia Lance, the showrunner for the television series LA Nights.
Fezco O'Neill portrayed by Angus Cloud (seasons 1–2) Mason Shea Joyce (10 years old, "Trying to Get to Heaven Before They Close the Door")
Patrick "Fezco" O'Neill is a local drug dealer with a close, sibling-like relationship with Rue. He was raised by his grandmother, who is now disabled and he cares for. He lives with Ashtray ("Ash"), who he considers his business partner. Even though they are not related by blood, they treat each other like brothers. Fez starts a camaraderie with Lexi during the second season. In the third season, he is incarcerated in prison following his arrest at the end of the second season, but he still stays in contact with Rue.
Cal Jacobs portrayed by Eric Dane Elias Kacavas (18 years old, "Ruminations: Big and Little Bullys")
Cal Jacobs is Nate's strict, demanding father who lives a double life. He is married to and fathered three children with Marsha, his high school girlfriend. In secret, he is a closeted homosexual who has one-night stands with men and transgender youths, including Jules, which he records with a hidden camera. In the second season, he drunkenly reveals his infidelity to his wife and children and leaves his family before being arrested. In the third season, Cal is an alcoholic who lives on his own after his wife divorced him. He attends Nate's wedding and reveals to Jules that he is now a registered sex offender as a result of being busted for sleeping with a 17-year-old who misled him about his age. He considers high school to be the best years of his life and asserts to Nate that his sexual relations with men were simply acts of hedonism.
Maddy Perez portrayed by Alexa Demie Keilani Arellanes (11 years old, "Made You Look", "'03 Bonnie and Clyde", and "Out of Touch")
Madeleine "Maddy" Perez was born on January 28, 2001. She is confident, popular, and cruel. She is Nate's on-and-off girlfriend and later ex-girlfriend. She has a turbulent relationship with her family and was emotionally and physically abused by Nate while they were together. Her greatest fear is ending up in a loveless relationship like her parents', so she often excuses Nate's acts of violence as proof of his passion and love for her, even going so far as to help him frame an innocent man for physically assaulting her, so Nate would get back together with her. Despite her hotheadedness, she can be kind and values her close friends, like Kat and BB, as well as Rue, Jules, and Lexi. Cassie was once her closest friend, before Cassie betrayed Maddy by having a secret relationship with Nate in the second season. Maddy ends their friendship, and her remaining friends support her decision. Maddy assaults Cassie after the latter interrupts Lexi's play. Afterwards, Cassie's remorse for her actions only furthers Maddy's resentment. In the third season, Maddy works as an assistant for the talent manager Ms. Penzler, before branching off on her own. She is initially successful, but eventually loses her best client. She reluctantly reconnects with Cassie for the first time since high school, seeing an opportunity to use Cassie to boost her own clientele. She attends Nate and Cassie's wedding but is overcome with emotion at the reception and leaves. Maddy later meets Rue's boss, Alamo Brown, and they agree to work together, with Maddy helping to promote some of Alamo's girls from his strip clubs. She later loses her job after her boss discovers that Maddy has Cassie as a client, and becomes indebted to Alamo when he helps save Cassie when she is kidnapped by Naz. Maddy then begins a partnership with Cassie and uses Nate's mansion to create a content house featuring Alamo's girls.
Nate Jacobs
portrayed by Jacob Elordi Gabriel Golub (11 years old, "Stuntin' Like My Daddy")
Nathaniel "Nate" Jacobs was born on November 8, 2000. He is a high school athlete whose anger issues masked his sexual insecurities. He was traumatized as a child after viewing his father Cal's collection of pornography, which featured him having sex with male and transgender prostitutes. He harbored an unspecified fixation on Jules, had an on-and-off toxic relationship with Maddy, but later started a secret relationship with Cassie in the second season, which damaged the girls' friendship. Nate often had dangerous outbursts of anger and violence, of which Maddy was usually on the receiving end. In the third season, Nate shed his anger issues and became engaged to Cassie. He took over his father's construction company but had financial issues that indebted him to Naz, a dangerous mortuary mogul. Initially, he hid his debts from Cassie, but on their wedding night, his situation was exposed to her when Naz ordered his henchman to remove Nate's toe as a reminder of his debt. After being buried alive by Naz to force Cassie to settle the debt, Nate succumbs to a fatal rattlesnake bite.
Kat Hernandez portrayed by Barbie Ferreira (seasons 1–2) Johanna Colón (11 years old, "Made You Look")
Katherine "Kat" Hernandez was born on August 15, 2002. She is a girl fighting for body positivity while exploring her sexuality. She is a plus-sized teenager with chin-length hair, ivory skin, and dark brown eyes. She wears cat-eye glasses, and her everyday clothes often consist of average shirts, tops, and dresses, preferring minimalist makeup looks. After a video of Kat having sex is spread online, she is initially horrified but becomes intrigued when she receives comments expressing their arousal by her. Kat begins to wear bolder clothing, has a brasher personality, and becomes sexually active. However, Kat's insecurities grow when she gets closer to classmate Ethan Daley, which culminates in her confessing her feelings to Ethan. In season two, Kat continues dating Ethan, but over time, Kat becomes increasingly aware of her insecurities and begins to project her self-loathing onto Ethan. Kat tries to gaslight Ethan and blame her problems on him, but Ethan sees through her and reluctantly ends their relationship. Kat is later present when Maddy learns that Cassie had been sleeping with Nate behind her back.
Leslie Bennett portrayed by Nika King (seasons 1–2; guest season 3) Malia Barnhardt (14 years old, "A Thousand Little Trees of Blood")
Leslie Bennett is Rue and Gia's mother. After the death of her husband, Leslie takes care of her children on her own. Leslie hopes for Rue's sobriety, but after being deceived multiple times by Rue, she chooses to prioritize Gia by kicking Rue out of their home after the end of the second season. In the third season, while Leslie and Rue's relationship remains strained, they still keep in contact.
Gia Bennett portrayed by Storm Reid (seasons 1–2) Hyla Rayne Fontenot (7 years old, "Pilot") Nyran Hepburn and Ashton Hunsberger (Baby, "Stand Still Like the Hummingbird")