‘Euphoria’: Suze Howard Is Amy Poehler’s June George ‘Without the Comedy and Pink Velour’
Alanna Ubach sees a lot of similarities between her Euphoria character Suze Howard and Amy Poehler’s June George from Mean Girls. The fictional parents may seem like two “cool moms,” but there’s one key difference between Suze and June. Find out who inspired Ubach’s role in Euphoria, plus what makes her different from Poehler’s portrayal of a “cool mom.”
Suze Howard is based on a real mom from Alanna Ubach’s past
As Ubach revealed in an interview with Vulture, Euphoria creator Sam Levinson allows a lot of room for improvisation on set. When it came to creating Suze, who had minimal lines in season 1 of the HBO series, Ubach turned to a woman she used to know.
“I was attracted to the character because she reminded me so much of the mother of one of my best friends,” she told the outlet. “Her name was Linda Morales.”
Linda was “the favorite mom” because she didn’t parent like an authoritative figure. Instead, she was who you would call when you “got pregnant” or “kicked out of school.”
“No one was afraid of her,” Ubach continued. “She acted as a big sister. I thought, ‘Wouldn’t that be fun to live in her for a while?'”
Ubach said Linda did pass away, but she was able to bring her “back to life” by playing Suze. “It’s a very different way of creating a character.”
‘Euphoria’ character is similar to Regina George’s mom in ‘Mean Girls’
Ubach also compared her Euphoria character to Regina George’s (Rachel McAdams) mother June in Mean Girls. Played by Poehler, June is infamously “not like regular moms — she’s a cool mom.”
Ubach agrees Suze is like June, but “without the comedy and the pink velour.” She elaborated: “In the comedy, [June is] like, ‘Oh, these girls make her feel young.’ She gets to live her teenage years all over again.”
But for Suze, it’s a different story. “It’s ‘Be my friend so I can know everything that’s going on 24 hours a day with you guys,'” Ubach explained. “It’s probably not the best idea, but it’s how she operates.”
Suze Howard is ‘doing her best’ in ‘Euphoria’ Season 2
In Ubach’s opinion, Suze is parenting to the best of her ability in Euphoria. As the actor explained, her character has to compete with the internet, a technology that is basically raising her daughters Lexi (Maude Apatow) and Cassie (Sydney Sweeney).
“We’re the first generation of parents with children who have answers in their pockets for anything, whether they’re right answers or wrong answers,” she told Vulture. “[It’s challenging to parent] when you’re competing with something like Google or TikTok or Instagram … a breeding ground for narcissism.”
The actor also thinks her character blames herself for a lot of the behaviors Cassie exhibits in Euphoria. “To have a daughter who is not only promiscuous but has been recorded in the act that is now out on the internet — I think there’s a lot of guilt,” said Ubach.
Cassie’s behavior continued to escalate in season 2 of Euphoria when she started dating Nate Jacobs (Jacob Elordi), her best friend’s ex, secretly. By the end of the season, she disrupts Lexi’s production of Our Life, which Cassie mistakes for cries of jealousy. Suze watches with pride up until Cassie’s disruption — from there, she does her best to pick up the pieces, feeling that guilt Ubach referenced in her interview.
Watch seasons 1 and 2 of Euphoria on HBO.
