Spoilers below.
Zendaya was in her feelings after the Euphoria season 3 finale too. A new behind-the-scenes featurette from HBO reveals footage from the actress’s final day on set this season. She’s shown taking the mic and addressing the crew in a heartfelt speech.
“I just want to say thank you,” she said. “I’m incredibly grateful for every single one of you, and many of you have been here from the beginning and watched me grow up. It’s been a pleasure and an honor. Thank you so much.”
As viewers know by now, Zendaya performed her final scenes as her beloved main character, Rue Bennett, in the latest episode of Euphoria. The season 3 finale shows Rue dying of an overdose after she takes Percocet laced with fentanyl—a deadly scheme set up by Alamo Brown, the drug kingpin she was working for, who found out she was working with the feds.
Zendaya’s last shooting day was a “very emotional day,” Marcell Rév, Euphoria’s director of photography, said in the video. Some of the crew even wore glitter under their eyes in an homage to Rue’s famous makeup look from the first season. Hunter Schafer also gushed over working with Zendaya, saying, “I feel so lucky my first major scene partner ended up being a soulmate.”
While the season 3 finale sent shockwaves through the internet, show creator Sam Levinson explained why Rue’s story had to take a tragic turn. “I think in the end, I wanted to tell an honest story about addiction,” he said. “I also wanted to tell a story about grief and the emotional turmoil that it can create.”
Zendaya previously reflected on her time on Euphoria during an appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show in April. “Rue broke my heart open,” she said. “Rue taught me so much about life. That crew has also seen me grow up. I owe so much to that show. Rue taught me so much about empathy and redemption.” When asked whether season 3 would be Euphoria’s last, she responded, “I think so.” (HBO has yet to confirm.)
We’re about to get a lot more Zendaya on our screens this year, though, as she’ll next star in The Odyssey, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and Dune: Part Three. She recently told ELLE of her packed release schedule, “It’s going to be a long year, but what’s great is that I’m really proud of everything. I just really love my job. But I think that after this, I’m going to have to take a little bit of a break.” She added, however, “As soon as I take a break, I start to go crazy. And I’m like, ‘I need to work.’”












