Sydney Sweeney Says Season 2 of 'Euphoria' Will See Her Character, Cassie, "Grow"

Fans of Euphoria, rejoice: The breakout HBO series surrounding TV's edgiest cast of high schoolers is slated to return. The show, which stars Emmy-winner Zendaya, earned a die-hard fan base and gave rise to budding stars like Hunter Schafer, Barbie Ferreira, Jacob Elordi, and Alexa Demie when it premiered in the summer of 2019.

HBO renewed Euphoria just one month after it launched the series. Show creator Sam Levinson "has built an incredible world with an extraordinary cast led by the supremely talented Zendaya," the network's EVP of programming, Francesca Orsi, said at the time. "We are so grateful that he chose HBO as the home for this groundbreaking series. We look forward to following these complex characters as their journeys continue through the challenging world they inhabit."

Although the details of the sophomore season remain slim, the hype surrounding it certainly is not. Here's what we know about Euphoria's next chapter so far.

Zendaya shared a teaser.

We finally have our first look at Euphoria Season 2, thanks to Zendaya's Instagram. The star shared a sneak peek at the upcoming episodes, posting a short video revealing Rue (herself) and Jules (Hunter Schafer) catching eyes in the school hallway.

"Happy 2 year @euphoria anniversary…see you soon:)," Zendaya wrote in the caption.

Two special episodes premiered in the meantime.

Two bridge episodes of Euphoria arrived in December 2020 and January 2021. The first focuses on Rue around Christmastime, after she was left at the station and relapsed. The second centers on Jules, also during the holiday season.

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Zendaya previously teased the idea of doing bridge episodes while speaking to InStyle. "There is an idea to do a couple of bridge episodes that can be shot safely but aren't necessarily part of Season 2," the actress said. "So, hopefully, we will be able to do those in the coming months. I can't wait."

The release date is unknown.

But it was originally set to arrive in 2020. When HBO shared a teaser that previewed its new releases for the year. Euphoria's second season was included in the sizzle, which is now deleted, but the network didn't share an exact premiere date at the time.

Season 1 debuted on June 16, so fans were understandably ready for Season 2 to arrive in Summer 2020. However, June has come and gone with no new episodes. After the coronavirus put production for Euphoria (and the rest of Hollywood) on pause, it's unclear when the next installment will actually premiere.

Zendaya is coming back as Rue.

Although Rue's story ended on a cliffhanger in the first season, it appears we'll get some clarity in the upcoming episodes. Storm Reid, who plays Rue's younger sister, Gia, teased what's to come while speaking to Entertainment Weekly. Just a note: Spoilers lie ahead.

"Yes, our whole show is for your own interpretation, and I did see the things where people ask me if she was deceased or not, or if she had relapsed in the last episode," she said after the finale. "I feel like again, it's for your own interpretation, and the questions that you may have specifically about the eighth episode will be answered in the first couple of episodes of Season 2."

Zendaya also celebrated the show's renewal on social media, hinting that she will in fact appear in the next season. Photos from the table read later on confirmed her return.

She later told InStyle of playing the role, "I do miss Rue. She's like my little sister in a lot of ways. And going back to that character is a home base for me."

Gia could be playing a bigger role.

Reid also told Entertainment Weekly that she'd be interested in doing an episode solely focused on her character, if that's in the cards with the writers. She said she and the team are "trying to really just develop her character because the first season she's just the little sister staying on the sidelines, but she'll be older and she'll really have her own opinion, and really become her own person." The actress added, "I feel like you'll be seeing a lot more Gia in the second season."

There are going to be some new additions to the cast.

"They're casting a couple of new characters, but I can't tell you much," Alexa Demie told ELLE.com.

Her comments came more than a month after cast listings reportedly surfaced and revealed potential new Euphoria characters: Darian, a 17-year-old man who's a sensitive and vulnerable outsider; Ray, a 17-year-old man with a "pure heart" who's "attractive in a real and accessible way"; Ami, a woman aged 18 to 20 who's a drug addict and stripper, and "talks shit"; and Serena, a "sassy and tough" woman in her 50s.

Kelvin Harrison Jr. of Waves and The High Note is one of the new additions to the cast. “It was something that we had talked about for a while, because I wanted to be on Season 1 and things didn’t really go that way,” he told Variety. “Suddenly, all the stars aligned and I got to be there."

The cast began table reads in March 2020.

In mid-March, Euphoria's Twitter account shared photos from the first official cast reading, and it's safe to say, the crew behind the hit HBO series are just as excited as we are for its return.

"Season freaking two," read a caption alongside a photo of the show's star, Zendaya, reading over her script. Another image showed Zendaya studying lines with her costar Angus Cloud.

"We're taking you behind the scenes as no show has before," the series' Twitter promised.

But production was paused due to coronavirus concerns.

The show announced on Twitter on March 16, "we’re pausing production, for now, to make sure everyone on our cast and crew stays safe. don’t worry. we’ll be back stronger than ever before 💜"

The post didn't specify when production would resume.

Kelvin Harrison Jr. told Variety of the sudden pause, "We did our first couple table reads and they were amazing. And we did our camera test and costume fittings were underway, and sets were being built … we were ready to go. And then the pandemic hit; coronavirus said, ‘Sit down.’ But, it’s exciting and everyone is so wonderful on that show. The cast is so fun and sweet and smart and it’s going to be really special. I’m happy to be part of it.”

"There is a beautiful second season that has been written, but in order to do it the way we want to do it, we need to wait until it's safer," Zendaya also told InStyle.

Of the hiatus, Barbie Ferreira (Kat) told Entertainment Tonight, "There's a break season happening, not quite sure about much of those details but I'm sure it'll come out soon-ish." New episodes will "be worth the wait," she added.

Zendaya is looking forward to going back to work.

The actress spoke about the show's hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic with Mj Rodriguez for Variety's Actors on Actors issue.

"We were supposed to go back to work, I believe, on March 16. And three or four days before that, they were shut down," she recalled. "I can't complain. I’m very lucky to be safe and healthy and still know that I have a job, Euphoria, that will be there. I think all we ever wanted was for people to feel seen through our work. And so that’s all I want to continue to do, to show the human side of what addiction does to a person. Hopefully, I get to get back into my Chucks and do it again."

Barbie Ferreira wants Kat to explore her friendships.

After ending up with Ethan at the end of Season 1, Ferreira hopes her character will dive deeper into her dynamics with her friends rather than her love life in the upcoming season.

"God, I think I just really wanna see Kat come into herself more and explore her dynamics with her friends," she told ET. "I think that's where I want to see Kat more, like, where is her place with her friends, how does she bring her confidence into her everyday life and school life?"

She's read some Season 2 scripts.

"I’ve read a few scripts," Ferreira told Collider. "Fun fact, Euphoria is rewritten a lot. Sometimes you get a script and then, a few days later, you get a completely different story. So, who’s to say what’s actually gonna happen. All I know is that it’s gonna be great and it’s gonna be an adventure and it’s gonna go there once again.

The new season "is not a fun watch."

Zendaya described Euphoria Season 2 as "difficult" and "challenging" while speaking to Teen Vogue.

Singer Dominic Fike is in the cast.

Dominic Fike is kicking off his acting career with a gig on Euphoria. The musician originally auditioned when the show first started and made it to the final round before his character was written off. This time around, HBO reached back out to him and he auditioned for a bigger role, Variety reported.

"I don't have to do much acting," Fike says of his character, who's eerily similar to him. "He's exactly like me. It's shit I would say and shit I would do."

The show won't go on forever.

HBO's president of programming, Casey Bloys, shut down the idea of Euphoria running for several seasons. "Well, [the characters] are in high school, so there are only so many seasons it can go,” he told TVLine. "There's a time limit."

In the meantime, however, there's no official end date for the series. "We'll follow [Sam Levinson's] lead on that," Bloys added. "There is no set plan. But I don't think you want 30-year-olds playing [high school students]."

Sydney Sweeney says that she "can't wait" for everyone to see Euphoria's second season.

In a new digital cover story for Who What Wear, Sydney Sweeney, who portrays Cassie on the series, hints at what's to come for her character in the second season.

"I felt like I was back in my other skin almost. I felt like I was going home to this really fucked-up home," Sweeney told the outlet about her first experience playing a recurring character. "I'm really enjoying and learning more about Cassie and seeing her grow. It’s been a lot of fun."

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