Can you imagine HBO's Euphoria without Zendaya at its center? From her voiceover narration in the early episodes to her Emmy-winning work through Rue's character arc, Zendaya is the beating heart of the show. However, in an alternate universe, Euphoria exists with a newcomer at the helm instead.
As reported by Variety, the casting director of Euphoria Jennifer Venditti recently revealed that while Zendaya was always the creative team's first choice for the role of Rue, an unknown actor was almost cast as the lead.
“There was a young woman who had been street scouted by my team who was a magical person and had a similar trajectory as Rue and had come around to the other side,” Jennifer told Variety. “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.”
Jennifer added that they hooked up the young actor with a coach to help bring out her talents, but it wasn't quite the right fit in the end — and Zendaya ultimately stepped into Rue's shoes to give an Emmy-winning performance. “It’s so interesting. A polar opposite. 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," Jennifer shared.
Jennifer also talked a bit about casting model Hunter Schafer as Rue's best friend and sometime-girlfriend, Jules. It took some back-and-forth between Hunter's team and the Euphoria group, but thankfully she decided to sign on. The team was instantly impressed.
“She did her auditions with [the first-time actor who was being considered for Rue]. And she also did something that I think is so beautiful: when it was time for the other young woman to do a scene that was hers, she showed up for her," Jennifer said of Hunter's approach. "She was so present and so natural with these other scenes that weren’t hers. You find that with good actors, that’s what they do for each other.”
All this talk about Euphoria has us so excited for season three, so hopefully we don't have to wait too long for more from Rue, Jules, and the rest of the East Highland crew.
