Development Sam Levinson in 2018 In 2006,
Sam Levinson began drafting different versions of what eventually became
Euphoria, based on his personal experiences as a teenager and his struggles with
anxiety,
depression, and
drug addiction. In June 2017, he was invited to a meeting with
HBO's head of drama, Francesca Orsi about an adaptation of the 2012 Israeli television series
Euphoria created by
Ron Leshem, Daphna Levin, and Tamira Yardeni. Levinson recalled the meeting with Orsi: "We just had a conversation about just life and her life and my life and various struggles that, you know, we've been through and things and she said, 'Great, you know, well go and write that' and I said 'What?' and she goes 'Everything we just talked about'". and in a press release described the American version as "
Kids meets
Trainspotting" with no parental supervision. The production was given a pilot order on March 13, 2018, and on July 30, it was announced that HBO had given the production a series order. Levinson has served as
Euphorias
showrunner since its premiere and has written every episode. He has directed every episode except "Pilot", "'03 Bonnie and Clyde" and "The Next Episode", which were respectively directed by
Augustine Frizzell,
Jennifer Morrison and Pippa Bianco.
Euphoria is a co-production of The Reasonable Bunch,
A24, Little Lamb,
DreamCrew, and
HBO Entertainment. It has sixteen executive producers, including Levinson, Leshem, Levin, Yardeni, Hadas Mozes Lichtenstein, Mirit Toovi, Yoram Mokadi,
Gary Lennon,
Zendaya, Canadian rapper
Drake, Future the Prince, Ravi Nandan, and
Kevin Turen. Production for the second season was scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2020, with the first
table read on March 11, but the
COVID-19 pandemic delayed the production. Production resumed in March 2021, with filming from April to November. HBO defended the series against allegations of a toxic work environment during the production of the second season, writing: "The well-being of cast and crew on our productions is always a top priority. The production was in full compliance with all safety guidelines and guild protocols. It's not uncommon for drama series to have complex shoots, and COVID protocols add an additional layer. We maintain an open line of communication with all the guilds, including
SAG-AFTRA. There were never any formal inquiries raised." Before the series' second season, HBO ordered two specials. The first, "Trouble Don't Last Always", premiered on December 6, 2020, and follows
Rue Bennett as she deals with the aftermath of leaving
Jules Vaughn at the train station and relapsing. The second, "Fuck Anyone Who's Not a Sea Blob", premiered on January 24, 2021, and follows Jules's side of the story. It was co-written and executive produced by Levinson and
Hunter Schafer. HBO announced that the special episodes would air two days early on
HBO Max. On February 4, 2022, HBO renewed the series for a third season. In September 2022, HBO's CEO Casey Bloys said the series would not end after the third season. Production of the third season was set to start in February 2023, aiming for a late 2023 release, but according to a
Vogue interview with Apatow, filming was set to start in the second half of 2023. On a podcast, series costume designer Heidi Bivens said that preparations would begin in May 2023, with filming starting in June 2023. The third season production was
disrupted by the
2023 Writers Guild of America strike, with
Jeremy O. Harris calling out to
David Zaslav, saying, "He's not a scab. David Zaslav, make a deal. That's what I'll say about Season 3 of
Euphoria. Make a deal, David. It's easy. Just come to that table." In May 2023,
Euphoria was confirmed to take place in the same universe as Levinson's 2023 television series
The Idol.
Euphoria series regular
Alexa Demie makes an uncredited cameo appearance in the series' first episode. Pre-production for the third season had begun by December 2023. On March 12, 2024,
Sydney Sweeney said in an
MTV interview with Josh Horowitz that filming for the third season was due to "start soon". But on March 25, it was reported that shooting was postponed indefinitely amid speculation that the series would not return. On July 12, 2024, HBO announced that cast members had signed on for a third season that would aim for a January 2025 start date. In August 2024, while appearing on an episode of
Call Her Daddy with
Alex Cooper, Schafer said, "The real tea is I have no fucking idea what's going on" with production on the series' third season. Zendaya said she did not "really have much of an answer" for the future of
Euphoria other than it was set to start filming in January 2025, but Domingo said that Levinson had "told me some of it, and it's going to be groundbreaking."
Casting In June 2018, it was announced that the pilot would star
Zendaya,
Storm Reid,
Maude Apatow,
Astro,
Eric Dane,
Angus Cloud,
Alexa Demie,
Jacob Elordi,
Barbie Ferreira,
Nika King,
Hunter Schafer, and
Sydney Sweeney. In October,
Algee Smith was cast to replace Astro as McKay, and
Austin Abrams had also been cast. Astro reportedly quit the series after shooting the pilot as he was uncomfortable with the sexual content involving his character. In an interview with
GQ,
Myha'la confirmed that she auditioned for the lead role that eventually went to Zendaya. In April 2020,
Kelvin Harrison Jr. joined the cast, but by May 2021, he had dropped out due to scheduling conflicts as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In August,
Dominic Fike,
Minka Kelly, and
Demetrius "Lil Meech" Flenory Jr. were added to the cast. In an interview with
The Hollywood Reporter,
Odessa A'zion confirmed that she auditioned for a role in the second season but after production was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the role went to another actor. On August 24, 2022, Ferreira announced via
Instagram story that she had decided to leave the series. On April 5, 2023, she stated: "I just felt like, maybe it's like I overstayed my welcome a little bit. So for me, I actually felt good to be like, 'Okay, I get to not worry about this, and we both don't get too worried about this', because it's exhausting." On July 31, 2023, Cloud died before production of the third season had begun. In July 2024,
Colman Domingo confirmed that he would be reprising his role as Ali Muhammad in the third season. In November, Reid announced she would not be returning for the third season. In February 2025, it was reported that series regulars, Smith, King, Abrams and
Javon "Wanna" Walton would also not be returning.
Martha Kelly and
Chloe Cherry were reported to have been promoted to series regulars for the third season, with
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje and
Toby Wallace also joining the main cast.
Rosalía,
Marshawn Lynch,
Kadeem Hardison,
Darrell Britt-Gibson, Priscilla Delgado,
James Landry Hébert, Anna Van Patten,
Sharon Stone and
Asante Blackk were also announced to have joined the cast in guest roles. In October,
Trisha Paytas,
Natasha Lyonne,
Danielle Deadwyler,
Eli Roth, Bella Podaras, Bill Bodner, Cailyn Rice,
Colleen Camp,
Gideon Adlon,
Hemky Madera, Homer Gere, Jack Topalian, Jessica Blair Herman, Kwame Patterson,
Madison Thompson,
Matthew Willig,
Rebecca Pidgeon, and
Sam Trammell joined the cast in guest roles. On February 19, 2026, Dane died after having completed his work on the third season.
Filming Primary photography takes place in
Sony Pictures Studios in
Culver City,
California.
Grant High School in
Los Angeles stands in for the fictional East Highland High School. The exterior of the Bennett family house that appears in the pilot episode is located at 5611 Shenandoah Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90056, USA According to the
California Film Commission, the first season of
Euphoria received $8,378,000 in incentive tax credits. The first season was filmed over 104 days; the second season's production costs totaled $96,685,000 after 176 filming days. The second season received a $19,406,000 tax credit for employing over 15,000 people in California. Zendaya received $500,000 per episode in the first two seasons and $1,000,000 per episode in the third season. Out of respect for the actors and extras involved, filming of nudity was conducted on a closed set, and for sex scenes, an
intimacy coordinator was used. Zendaya said she wanted to explore characters outside the high school setting in the third season, with filming locations in
Dublin,
London,
New York City,
Rome,
Singapore, and Warner Bros. Studios lots in
Burbank and
Leavesden. Filming privately began in late January 2025 and publicly in February 2025 with Zendaya on set. Zendaya and Priscilla Delgado were spotted filming a scene from episode 2 on February 28. By March 2, Demie was shooting scenes with Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje. Domingo filmed some of his scenes in March and then returned to film the rest of his scenes in July. Elordi and Dane started shooting in April 2025. In October, both Sweeney and Elordi had wrapped shooting their respective roles. Filming for the season wrapped by early November. As a result of her busy schedule, Zendaya was forced to shoot all her scenes in a truncated timeline stating: "It was a whirlwind. I did what I do in eight months in like four months. It was like trying to get eight episodes in at once. It just flew by me."
Cinematography The show employs hyper-stylized cinematography, which presents an "emotional
realism" that captures the inner perspectives of the series's adolescent characters. The first season was shot digitally using the
Arri Alexa 65 camera. The two special episodes and second season were shot on
Kodak 35mm film stock, primarily
Ektachrome, which cinematographer
Marcell Rév attributed to a desire to invoke "some sort of memory of high school". The third season was shot on Kodak 35mm and 65mm film, including a new stock called Verita created specifically for the show. The series often uses saturated colors, notably purple and blue, to illustrate its characters' emotional states. Shades of green and yellow regularly symbolize distress, while purple and blue convey an elated, feverish atmosphere. The second season was shot on
film, specifically Kodak's
Ektachrome and Vision3 500T, which distorted how set lighting looked on camera. "For camera movements, we really wanted it to have a certain energy that ties the different storylines together. So, I would say the camera movement is the glue in the show, that glues it together", said Rév of using an energized design element that stands out. Reactions to the series following its release included comparisons to Collins' work and its influence on the show's visual style.
Costumes and makeup The costume design is arguably the series' most notable and influential hallmark. Jamila Stewart of
Vogue stated that
Euphoria still has a palpable impact on where fashion trends fall today. The characters often wear chic, flamboyant outfits that serve as "plot devices and psychological profiles" to represent their personalities and character arcs. For example, in season 1, costume designer Heidi Bivens dressed Jules, a transgender girl, in a wardrobe of bright pastels and tennis skirts, inspired by the character's interest in
anime and fantasy, to embody "the youthful optimism that comes with a fresh start" and her journey to "conquer" femininity, but as Jules explores her
gender identity and becomes more disillusioned between seasons 1 and 2, she "slips into a slightly muted, darker and more androgynous" wardrobe.
Into the Gloss spoke of the makeup: “Since the first episode, it’s all everyone’s been talking about. And while naysayers will point out that
Euphoria’s makeup is too good to be realistic, seeing it reminded me quite a bit of the very real makeup I used to wear in high school.” == Music ==