Sydney Sweeney had to pass on "a few" projects while waiting on Euphoria

Welcome back to Euphoria watch, the watch where we don’t actually watch Euphoria, because there’s not currently any new Euphoria to watch, but we do watch to see if Euphoria is actually going to come back so we can watch it. When we last checked in, less than 24 hours ago, HBO boss Casey Bloys was reaffirming (somewhat unconvincingly) that Euphoria will return. “I know the show gets a lot of attention now because it has created some genuine movie stars, and they have various projects that they’re working on. But we are shooting this season, so nothing has changed,” he said. And speaking of movie stars, two Euphoria cast members graced the cover of Vanity Fair‘s Hollywood Issue on Wednesday. 

Something like the Hollywood Issue is another one of those signals that the cast may have way outgrown their HBO teen drama, but to hear Sydney Sweeney tell it, the gratuitous Euphoria delay pretty much forced her into doing her own thing. “There were definitely a few projects that I had to pass on because I was supposed to be going back to Euphoria,” she admits to VF. “But because I am producing now, I was able to say, ‘You know what? I don’t think this is happening. I’m going to put some of my own projects on the slate.’ That’s how Anyone But You happened. Euphoria was supposed to start filming, and I had another film that I was supposed to do, but we couldn’t get cleared and after a few weeks, I realized, This is not happening. So I put in full gear to make Anyone But You.“

Listen: When a young performer’s star is on the rise, you do not want to impede their progress to the top! HBO and Sam Levinson are just asking for resentment and drama by holding up these actors’ schedules. And by the way, though she’s circumspect in her own remarks on the subject, it sounds like Zendaya’s schedule was probably held up to some degree as well. The producer and lead actor of the series tells VF she’s “been off for a couple years,” so Euphoria was “not delayed because of my…I’ve been open, just waiting. [Laughs.] I’ve been waiting.” 

Zendaya acknowledges that filming for the show is “slated for January” (as Bloys and HBO have maintained), but interestingly, she hasn’t “read anything yet.” That seems a slight concern, given that she’s a producer who was reportedly heavily involved in trying to figure out the direction of her character. She also used to enjoy a close relationship with Levinson, but there have been rumors of tension between the writer and his muse. Zendaya sidesteps the question when asked about Levinson directly, but says she’s “excited to see what everyone has been working on, and what the future looks like” for the show. “I don’t really have much of an answer except for right now it’s set to start shooting in January. My most important thing is to do justice by the people who love and care about Rue, and make sure that she’s looked after as a character,” she adds. “I think that’s my number one duty.”

Similarly, Sweeney says that “Cassie is such a deep, meaningful character for me,” reflecting that she believes she’ll be able to “grieve in a way” for their late co-star Angus Cloud when they get back to set. “Cassie is the longest character I’ve ever had in my life,” she says. “I feel like she’ll always have such a special place in my heart, so I know that I’ll be able to just jump right in.” Well, hopefully there’s something to jump into.