‘Euphoria’: Yet Another Actor Asked Sam Levinson to Tone Down the Nudity
Though Euphoria Season 2 has drawn huge numbers, the dark drama is receiving far more criticism in its sophomore season. Some fans are citing storylines that don’t add up, style over substance, and gratuitous nudity as pain points of the show. Many viewers have been particularly upset with how Sydney Sweeney has been portrayed on the show.
Sweeney, of course, plays Cassie Howard on the show. Given her character’s storyline, Sweeney has had nude scenes since the very first episode of Euphoria. But in season 2, some fans have called out shots where the nudity seems excessive at best. Furthermore, some viewers pointed out that Sweeney seems to be nude far more than the other main characters.
Sydney Sweeney originally had even more nude scenes in ‘Euphoria’
In an interview with the Independent, Sweeney shared that she was always felt comfortable when shooting intimate scenes for Euphoria. She even shared that she felt comfortable telling the show’s sole writer and creator, Sam Levinson, when she felt that the nudity he’d written wasn’t needed.
“Sam is amazing,” Sweeney shared about the Euphoria creator. “There are moments where Cassie was supposed to be shirtless and I would tell Sam, ‘I don’t really think that’s necessary here.’ He was like, ‘OK, we don’t need it’. I’ve never felt like Sam has pushed it on me or was trying to get a nude scene into an HBO show. When I didn’t want to do it, he didn’t make me.”
But Sweeney’s statement didn’t seem to quell the concerns of some Euphoria fans. In fact, many people were taken aback that Levinson seemed to want even more nudity in the show. Now, another actor has shared a story in which a fellow cast member had to tell Levinson that the nudity he wanted in the shot was excessive.
Recently, Chloe Cherry gave an interview with Daily Beast. Cherry is one of Euphoria’s newest characters and plays the role of Faye. Her deadpan delivery of the drug-addicted sex worker has added another comedic layer to the show. Fans will recall her meeting Rue in the back of Fez’s car before they were all subjected to a strip search.
Chloe Cherry revealed that her castmate told Sam Levinson that his proposed nudity for her character was excessive
Unlike Zendaya, Cherry actually stripped down for the aforementioned scene. However, she was actually supposed to be nude in yet another one of her scenes. Fans of Euphoria may recall Faye being stuffed into a vent to avoid getting arrested. That was actually the very first scene that Cherry shot and initially Levinson wanted her to be nude for it. However, her fellow castmate (who plays her on-screen beau) told the director that the nudity seemed excessive, especially since they’d just been introduced.
“We just met and said, ‘Hey, how are you?’ and then shot the scene,” Cherry recalled about her first Euphoria scene. “It probably would’ve been more comfortable had we had a little more time to know each other. Sam wanted to do the scene with me completely naked and Tyler was like, ‘That’s a lot,’ so they decided not to. But I was covered in fake blood and just felt so good being on set.”
Some ‘Euphoria’ fans are calling out Levinson for the excessive nudity in Season 2
Fortunately, Cherry seems to have enjoyed her experience working on Euphoria Season 2. However, for many fans, her account only confirms that Levinson has far too much gratuitous nudity on the show. Particularly, since the show is about high schoolers, some viewers are wondering why it’s so prevalent in the show.
“It is really weird that Sam Levinson seems to relish in writing unnecessary nudity and sex involving characters who are minors,” one Euphoria viewer penned on Twitter. “I still watch the show but it’s gratuitous and starting to put off the audience. It feels exploitative.”
“Why does Sam Levinson want that many [sic] nudity in Euphoria when the story revolves around HIGH SCHOOL students, which are pretty much minors?” another person questioned on Twitter. Clearly, some fans are taken aback by the constant nudity featured in the show. It’ll be interesting to see if Levinson takes the feedback into consideration if the show gets renewed for another season.
