‘Euphoria’: Dominic Fike Says Elliot Is ‘Exactly Like Me’ Except for 1 Major Difference
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
- Dominic Fike joined Euphoria in season 2 as Elliot, a new friend for Rue and Jules.
- The HBO hit’s star Zendaya says that the character of Elliot was necessary for the show to evolve.
- Fike admits there is one major difference between him and Elliot — he’s sober.
Euphoria fans met Dominic Fike’s Elliot in season 2, a new friend for Rue (Zendaya) and Jules (Hunter Schafer). The HBO drama is Fike’s first acting job, and he says he’s a lot like his character. However, he pointed out that there is one major difference.
The ‘Euphoria’ newcomer was expecting hate messages from fans
Ahead of his debut on the teen drama, Fike joked about the pressure that comes with being introduced in season 2 as someone who comes between the two main characters.
He told Us Weekly, “I can’t wait to see where people go with that and for all the hate messages I’ll get on my Instagram … and going into hiding. I can’t wait.”
Zendaya admits she had her doubts about the Elliot character and “wasn’t feeling it” because she is someone who “ships ‘Rules’ to the bitter end.”
Zendaya says Elliot was necessary for the show to evolve
“I was like, ‘whoa, whoa, whoa, what are we doing here? But, in retrospect, and also as someone who understands where the show needs to go and what needs to happen for these characters, it’s crucial that Elliot exist and that he be the person that is honestly the catalyst for a lot of things that just have to happen,” the Marvel star explained.
Schafer also had her doubts about “this Elliot boy.” But she says the more she saw what the character brought into the story and script, it became “a more interesting and exciting prospect.”
The ‘Euphoria’ star says there’s one major difference between him and Elliot
Fike says that he finds it easy to portray his character because he reminds him so much of himself. He admits that he doesn’t have to do much acting because “he’s exactly like me.”
“It’s s**t I would say and s**t I would do,” Fike confessed. However, he pointed out one major difference between him and Elliot — Fike is sober.
“I’m in overdrive. I feel like I can work forever and do anything,” the actor said.
Sobriety has made Dominic Fike’s career flourish
Fike insists that getting sober was the best thing he could have done for his career. Before Euphoria, Fike rose to fame in the rap world when he started posting his music on SoundCloud. He actually wrote and recorded his first EP, Don’t Forget About Me, Demos, that started a bidding war among record companies.
He ended up signing a deal with Columbia, and he’s collaborated with the likes of Justin Bieber, Halsey, and Paul McCartney. Now that he’s sober, Fike says he can “make full songs” and he doesn’t hate them.
“I make music by myself, so I need to be sober to know how to plug this s–t in here. I’m so proud of how far my music has come. I’m expanding my knowledge,” Fike explained. “No drugs and alcohol anymore. I eat right [and] I drink water. Meditation helps me. Now that I’m making this one, I’m doing all that. I worked out today.”
Dominic Fike says his ‘Euphoria’ co-stars made filming easy
The other thing that has made Fike’s acting debut “so easy” is that he instantly became friends with his co-stars. He told Thrillist that he doesn’t think he could have done it if they didn’t get along. As for his character, the 26-year-old says things won’t be easy for Elliot this season.
“I don’t think he thinks before he acts and he ends up getting himself in sticky situations,” Fike says. “Unfortunately, that happens a lot during the season. He kind of takes the hard way out of things.”
New episodes of Euphoria air Sunday nights on HBO.
