{"id":4194,"date":"2026-06-01T12:28:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T12:28:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/euphoria-creator-sam-levinson-defends-killing-zendayas-chracter-rue-in-season-3-finale\/"},"modified":"2026-06-01T12:28:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T12:28:22","slug":"euphoria-creator-sam-levinson-defends-killing-zendayas-chracter-rue-in-season-3-finale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/euphoria-creator-sam-levinson-defends-killing-zendayas-chracter-rue-in-season-3-finale\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Euphoria&#8217; creator Sam Levinson defends killing Zendaya&#8217;s chracter Rue in Season 3 finale"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F3%2F2026%2F06%2Flevinson-38.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Zendaya\u2019s \u201cEuphoria\u201d character, Rue Bennett, <a href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2026\/06\/01\/celebrity-news\/zendaya-reacts-to-character-rues-tragic-death-after-season-3-euphoria-finale\/\">dying in the Season 3 finale<\/a> was the most \u201chonest ending\u201d for the show, creator Sam Levinson insisted after the tragic scene aired.<\/p>\n<p>The showrunner declared in a post-finale HBO interview that \u201cpeople like Rue don\u2019t make it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The 41-year-old added that he was motivated to kill off the beloved character as a way to honor late cast member Angus Cloud, who <a href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2023\/07\/31\/euphoria-star-angus-cloud-dead-at-25\/\">died in July 2023<\/a> at 25.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>\u201cEuphoria\u201d creator Sam Levinson (pictured above on April 7) stands behind killing another original cast member in Sunday\u2019s finale. <span class=\"credit\">FilmMagic<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Zendaya\u2019s character, Rue Bennett, suffered a fatal overdose in this weekend\u2019s episode. <span class=\"credit\">HBO<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cPeople relapse. They f\u2013k up. They\u2019re not ready to get clean,\u201d Levinson said. \u201cThere\u2019s no reason to sugarcoat it. I wanted to tell this story for\u00a0Angus\u00a0and for people who weren\u2019t granted a second chance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bennett, notably, suffered an accidental overdose \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2023\/09\/21\/euphoria-star-angus-clouds-cause-of-death-revealed\/\">as did Cloud<\/a> \u2014 in a tragic scene that aired Sunday night.<\/p>\n<p>Zendaya\u2019s character took laced pills given to her by Alamo Brown, played by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, midway through the episode, titled \u201cIn God We Trust.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cloud\u2019s character, Fezco, was featured in the episode during Rue\u2019s death sequence.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Levinson called this choice the \u201chonest ending.\u201d <span class=\"credit\">HBO<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>\u201cPeople like Rue don\u2019t make it,\u201d he said \u2014 noting that the decision honored late cast member Angus Cloud (pictured above in the center in January 2022). <span class=\"credit\">Getty Images for HBO<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cRue is kind of going back through her life,\u201d Levinson <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esquire.com\/entertainment\/tv\/a71432860\/angus-cloud-euphoria-finale\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">explained to Esquire<\/a> over the weekend. \u201cSo this is actually a moment where she pulls up at the old convenience store that Fezco used to work at. She\u2019s looking up at the sign and has this flashback memory of her and Angus together.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The scene came from a test reel, the director shared with the outlet.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s footage that never made it into the show,\u201d Levinson noted. \u201cI thought, oh, it\u2019d be great to use that footage and just see him again\u2014and see the\u00a0<em>two<\/em>\u00a0of them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He continued, \u201cI really wanted to dive into that this season and deal with fentanyl, and deal with the consequences and how it\u2019s taking away young people\u2019s opportunity for a second chance. When I was growing up and doing drugs, sure, you could O.D. on something, but it wasn\u2019t like it is today where you make one wrong move and you\u2019re dead.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Cloud, who suffered a fatal overdose in 2023, was featured in the finale.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Levinson used footage of Cloud and Zendaya from an old test reel. <span class=\"credit\">HBO MAX<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Levinson, similarly, said in the HBO after-show segment, \u201cI can say with absolute certainly that if I was going through\u00a0what I went through when I was younger\u00a0now, I wouldn\u2019t be here either \u2026 with the influx of fentanyl into this country.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As for Zendaya, she called the role a \u201cpleasure and an honor\u201d in an emotional goodbye to crew members shown in the\u00a0behind-the-scenes breakdown.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just want to say, thank you,\u201d the \u201cDrama\u201d star gushed. \u201cI\u2019m incredibly grateful for every single one one of you, many of you have been here since the beginning and watched me grow up.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>\u201cI wanted to tell this story for\u00a0Angus\u00a0and for people who weren\u2019t granted a second chance,\u201d Levinson said. <span class=\"credit\">HBO MAX<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Zendaya, for her part, called the role a \u201cpleasure\u201d and an \u201chonor.\u201d <span class=\"credit\">HBO MAX<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Rue\u2019s passing comes on the heels of Zendaya\u2019s co-star Jacob Elordi\u2019s character Nate Jacobs\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2026\/05\/24\/entertainment\/euphoria-kills-off-jacob-elordis-nate-jacobs\/\">gruesome death<\/a> in last week\u2019s penultimate episode.<\/p>\n<p>Other original cast members from the series\u2019 2019 inception, from Sydney Sweeney\u2019s Cassie Howard to Hunter Schafer\u2019s Jules Vaughn, <a href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2026\/05\/29\/entertainment\/euphoria-killed-off-nate-who-else-might-die-in-season-3-series-finale\/\">survived the show<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Levinson cyrptically addressed Season 4 rumors in the Esquire interview, saying that while he didn\u2019t leave \u201canything on the field,\u201d he approaches \u201cevery season like it\u2019s the last\u201d and hasn\u2019t officially closed the door.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2026\/06\/01\/entertainment\/euphoria-creator-sam-levinson-defends-killing-zendayas-chracter-rue-in-season-3-finale\/\" target=\"_blank\">Source link<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Zendaya\u2019s \u201cEuphoria\u201d character, Rue Bennett, dying in the Season 3 finale was the most \u201chonest<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4195,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/levinson-38.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4194"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4194\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}