As reported by Variety, the casting director of Euphoria Jennifer Venditti recently revealed that while Zendaya was always the creative team's first choice for the role of Rue, an unknown actor was almost cast as the lead.
"I just knew I wanted to be a part of this project." Between the end of Euphoria's second season in 2022 and the release of its third in 2025, there has been plenty of time to miss Zendaya as Rue, the tortured soul who took audiences through the euphoric highs and harrowing lows of a recovering teenage drug addict.
HBO teen drama series Euphoria has been a massive hit around the world. The recent second season saw our protagonist Rue Bennett (Emmy-winner Zendaya) relapse into drug use but also reunite with her lover and best friend Jules Vaughn (Hunter Schafer) - but find some chaos.
In some instances, with Rue (Zendaya) specifically, she'd exaggerate what was naturally there to expose the character's struggle. "We traced over Zendaya's veins around her eyes a lot to accentuate whatever drug-related stuff was going on," she said.
Zendaya Shares Painful Experience Playing Rue In Euphoria
Why does Rue always have glitter under her eyes?
During high intensity scenes in the first season, Rue wears glitter that mimics tears. Because of Rue's traumatic past, we know she struggles with depression and often wears it on her sleeve as a cry for help. Through season two, Rue becomes more bare faced as she continues her struggle with addiction.
We see her style change as she begins to feel a sense of liberation thanks, in part, to her relationship with Rue. By the end of season one, she wears darker streaks in her hair, punk-inspired makeup and baggier, more androgynous silhouettes.
Rue is a non-binary, 17-year-old struggling with drug addiction. She identifies as a lesbian, but in the first season, we see her struggle with compulsory heterosexuality. She admits to her therapist that she thinks her need to be 'feminine' has been a result of the male gaze and that she prefers women over men.
As a trans woman, Jules has an implant that suppresses her male puberty hormones, which keep her testicles from getting bigger, establishing she has had no procedures regarding them.
The series follows Rue Bennett (Zendaya), a troubled queer teenage drug addict who struggles to get sober, find her place in the world, and adjust to her relationships after rehab. Though Rue is the central focus of the show, the beginnings of most episodes provides backstories for the rest of the main characters.
In an interview with Variety, casting director Jennifer Venditti revealed that while Zendaya was always the first choice to play Rue, an unnamed first-time actress, who had dealt with similar experiences with drug addiction as Rue, was being heavily considered for the part.
Well, it turns out, there is a very real reason why she was doing so, since they are common symptoms of opioid withdrawal. Turning back the clock, the episode starts with Leslie, Rue's mother, confronting her daughter about her relapse.
On the show Euphoria, Rue is so depressed that she can't get out of bed to go to the bathroom. Depression can definitely cause a lack of motivation and changes in energy levels, causing some people to do destructive things towards their health.
As they grew closer, both characters' insecurities started showing. Rue found the perfect substitute for drugs in her new best friend/romantic interest, but when Jules realized just how much Rue's mental health depends on her, she started growing increasingly distant.
Sitting in a pool of sweat on the stairs, Rue turned to Cassie and asked: "How long have you been f****** Nate Jacobs?" Rue then confessed she saw Cassie and Nate (Jacob Elordi) kiss in his car just after New Year, giving her best friend and Nate's ex-girlfriend Maddy (Alexa Demie) all of the ammunition to completely ...
Even though wearing the binder was slightly painful, I did feel euphoric in a mixed-gender kind of way. It was giving Jules in Euphoria wearing a binder because she's "navigating a largely straight, binary world".
The story of Rue from the hit TV series Euphoria illustrates the experience of a 16-year-old drug addict who suffers from bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety, and OCD.
The catalyst to the start of this series is the arrives of Jules, a transgender girl who's just moved into town. She meets Rue at a party after being threatened by local football king Nate, and the two hit it off immediately and innocently sleep together in the same bed.
Personal life. Schafer is a trans woman. In an interview, she said that the Internet helped her cope with her gender identity, as she turned to YouTube and social media to learn about people's transition timelines.
Jules' validity as a woman of trans experience is never questioned or debated, and her freedom as a woman is not only constantly shown but is backed up time and time again by her community throughout the series. It is this freedom to display self in a myriad of ways that is so revolutionary.
Jules is trying to navigate through life bottling up the emotions she's experiencing. Jules was harassed by Nate, left by her mom, and quietly dealt with her insecurities alone. Rue rarely knows what Jules is going through or what she's thinking, which leads to toxicity in their relationship.
Rue's pimples may have been the work of Euphoria's inimitable makeup department, which has been praised for the dreamy looks almost every other character is blessed with. But, counterargument: Zendaya has tweeted about her experiences with acne before.
