One Euphoria star is calling BS on the damning claims against showrunner Sam Levinson and the alleged chaos that ensued on his set.
In a new interview with The Independent, Colman Domingo—who won an Emmy for his recurring role in Euphoria as Rue’s (Zendaya) sponsor Ali—addressed the comments from some of his co-stars and the HBO drama’s extras about their negative experiences shooting Season 2. When asked whether he dealt with the same allegedly “toxic” working conditions, the Rustin actor gave a rather “OK, Boomer” response.
“No,” he replied. “Not one bit. I’m not gonna invalidate [anyone’s] experience. But working in television is long hours. Sometimes you work up to 14 hours a day. And then you have to go home and prep. You have to really live and work in a very methodical way. A lot of young actors may not be up for the task or have that same work ethic.”
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He continued: “I’ve been in this business for 32 years. I know what hard work is. So when I heard those ‘reports,’ I thought, ‘where is this coming from? That’s just a normal work day.’ Be a professional.”
Following Season 2 of Euphoria, crew members and background actors spoke to The Daily Beast about what they called a “toxic” production. Their complaints included 18-hour workdays, a lack of meals, and being refused the bathroom. Apparently, this resulted in multiple reports to SAG-AFTRA, to the point where a union representative came to visit the set. These already damning claims were followed by a Rolling Stone report in which Levinson was accused of being unprofessional on the set of his now-canceled HBO miniseries The Idol.
Euphoria’s lead actors have been less outwardly indignant about their experiences with Levinson. However, that hasn’t stopped many of their anecdotes about his leadership (or lack thereof) from attracting heat online.
For example, Sydney Sweeney, who plays Cassie on Euphoria, revealed that she had asked Levinson to revise scenes where she was originally supposed to be topless, which fired up social media users who were already skeptical of the director’s penchant for female nudity. Actress Minka Kelly, who briefly appeared in Season 2, also spoke about Levinson suddenly wanting her character to be nude the day she arrived on set. (She also pushed against it, and Levinson obliged.) Stars Maude Apatow and Jacob Elordi—who play Lexi and Nate, respectively—also spoke about the long working hours, with the latter comparing one long party scene to “being in hell.”
There were also rumors that Barbie Ferreira, who played fan favorite Kat, butted heads with Levinson throughout Season 2—though those issues seemingly had more to do with the trajectory of her now-axed character. Overall, it seems like the Levinson naysayers may have Domingo outnumbered.
