Everything the ‘Euphoria’ Cast Has Said About the Show’s Onscreen Nudity: ‘It’s Always Weird’

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Everything the ‘Euphoria’ Cast Has Said About the Show’s Onscreen Nudity: ‘It’s Always Weird’

Baring it all. Euphoria has become known for its graphic sex scenes — and the stars haven't held back about stripping down on camera. "Every scene is like, 'He sleeps with this person. He does this with this person naked,'" Jacob Elordi said about playing Nate Jacobs during a March 2022 appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. "On Euphoria, it comes with the territory of the character. He's this ultra-masculine, macho jock. Those guys, I think, tend to go around pretty shirtless, so it's sort of OK." The Australia native confirmed that they have an "intimacy coordinator" on set to make sure that the actors are comfortable while filming their steamy scenes. "She's like a second mother," Elordi said, joking that since "the crew has been the same from the first season through the second season," baring all on set is "like getting naked in front of your family. ... Which is weird. It's always weird." While Elordi is no longer bothered by how much skin he shows on Euphoria, his costar Sydney Sweeney opened up about the downsides of being naked onscreen. "I don’t think as many people took me seriously in Euphoria because I took my shirt off," the Washington native told Cosmopolitan in February 2022. "When I saw The Voyeurs for the first time, I wondered if I’d done too much. I researched celebrities who have done nude scenes, trying to make myself feel better." She continued: "There are hour-long compilations of world-famous male actors with nude scenes who win Oscars and get praised for that work. But the moment a woman does it, it degrades them. They’re not actresses, they just take off their tops so they can get a role. There’s such a double standard and I really hope that I can have a part in changing that." [jwplayer Pgpl1TTP-zhNYySv2] Though he has yet to film a nude scene for the HBO series, Austin Abrams has spoken about the show's hyper-sexualized nature. In February 2022, he revealed that he was originally supposed to perform Ethan's homoerotic musical number in Lexi's (Maude Apatow) play to "Holding Out For a Hero" in his "tighty whities." When the Dash and Lily star first read the script, he and the other dancers were supposed to be "lathered down in oil and doing all these things" for the scene "That’s not something previously that I had done in a long time, with dancing and stuff," Abrams told Entertainment Tonight ahead of the season 2 finale. Ultimately, the costumes were changed to football uniforms, which made the actor more comfortable. While Euphoria's popularity is undeniable, creator Sam Levinson has faced some backlash for what some viewers feel is gratuitous nudity. As several actors revealed that they had to ask for topless scenes to be cut, Eric Dane, who plays Nate's father, Cal Jacobs, defended Levinson's outrageous scripts. "It's all got a purpose," the Grey's Anatomy alum told E! News in January 2022, describing the show as being a "cautionary tale" for fans. "And as long as it's purposeful in the context of the story, then I think it's useful." Keep scrolling to see what the cast of Euphoria has said about the show's nude scenes: [podcast_block]

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Jacob Elordi

The Kissing Booth star revealed that he's more comfortable stripping down for Euphoria than he has been on other projects because it makes sense for his character. "I've done some movies where it gets to the point [of being], like, 'He goes to the mall shirtless.' And you're like, 'Why?'" he said on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in March 2022. 

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Sydney Sweeney

Sweeney, who plays troubled Cassie Howard, has filmed several nude scenes for Euphoria and praised Levinson for making her feel comfortable on set. "Sam is amazing," the White Lotus alum told The Independent in January 2022. "There are moments where Cassie was supposed to be shirtless and I would tell Sam, 'I don't really think that's necessary here.' [And] he was like, 'OK, we don't need it.'" She added, "When I didn't want to do [a nude scene], he didn't make me."

One month later, Sweeney confessed to Cosmopolitan that she views her nude scenes as the character getting naked, rather than the actress herself. "I’m so disconnected from it. When I get tagged in Cassie’s ... nudes, it feels like me looking at their nudes, not Sydney’s nudes," she said.

The Handmaid's Tale alum went on to explain that it helps that "when you film one of these scenes, it’s so technical and not romantic,” adding, “There are people staring at you, pads between you; there’s nipple covers and weird sticker thongs all up your butt."  

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Alexa Demie

Filming some of Maddy's more risqué scenes in season 1 was "tough" for Demie at first, she told Vogue in 2019. "When I read the script, I was like, 'This all makes sense and I want to do it,'" she said. "The nudity was — it was tough for me because I’m not really ... I’m just not comfortable like that publicly. So, it was hard for me."

However, the Waves actress doesn't regret shooting those scenes, explaining, "It definitely ... pulled me out of my comfort zone, and after I did it, I watched it and it’s just ... it’s not that serious."

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Minka Kelly

The Friday Night Lights alum joined Euphoria in season 2 as Samantha, the mother of the young boy Maddy babysits. The character makes a dramatic entrance, asking the teenager to help unzip her dress after a night out, but the scene was originally supposed to be even more scandalous. "[Levinson] thought it would be more interesting if my dress fell to the ground. That was my first day as a guest on this new show, and I just didn’t feel comfortable standing there naked," Kelly told Vanity Fair in February 2022. "I said, ‘I’d love to do this scene, but I think we can keep my dress on.' He was like, ‘OK!’ He didn’t even hesitate. And he shot a beautiful scene and got exactly what he wanted."

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Chloe Cherry

Cherry — who plays Fez's friend Faye in season 2 — told the Daily Beast that she was originally supposed to be naked in her first scene, which featured her onscreen boyfriend, Custer (Tyler Chase), stuffing her into an air vent to avoid being caught by the police. "We just met and said, 'Hey, how are you?' and then shot the scene," she recalled at the time. "It probably would’ve been more comfortable had we had a little more time to know each other. Sam wanted to do the scene with me completely naked and Tyler was like, 'That’s a lot,' so they decided not to. But I was covered in fake blood and just felt so good being on set."