Euphoria creator Sam Levinson revealed that Sydney Sweeney fought to keep her NSFW scenes in the upcoming third and final season of the HBO series after he initially suggested cutting them. In a Monday interview with The New York Times, Levinson shared the exchange that led to the decision.
Levinson's Initial Proposal
“Well, it’s funny. When I first wrote it, I was like, ‘Maybe we shoot all of this and we don’t have any nudity. Maybe there’s ways to shoot around certain things?’” Levinson said. “And she looked at me and she was like, ‘Are you kidding? I’m playing an OnlyFans model. You’re telling me you’re going to, like, skirt around it?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, OK, that’s a fair point.’”
Creative Relationship and Trust
Levinson praised Sweeney as a “totally fearless actor” and highlighted their strong working relationship. “She’s also just wonderfully professional and shows up just game every day. I adore working with her because there’s such a flexibility in terms of the performance. There’s a lot of trust that we have,” he said.
Character's OnlyFans Storyline
The third season explores Sweeney’s character, Cassie Howard, starting an OnlyFans account to fund her lifestyle after struggling to pay for her extravagant wedding to Nate Jacobs (Jacob Elordi). Levinson explained the creative approach: “And look, we’re tackling this world of OnlyFans where women are being paid to, like, whisper into an ear-shaped microphone. There is a level of absurdity to it that is just fun and we’re always trying to come up with ways to make it feel authentic and humorous and dramatic and also speak to the larger wants and wishes of the character.”
Read Levinson’s full interview with The New York Times. Seasons 1–3 of Euphoria are streaming now on HBO Max.
