Zendaya Responds to D.A.R.E.’s ‘Euphoria’ Criticism: ‘Our Show Is in No Way a Moral Tale’
Spoiler alert: This article contains some plot points from this week’s episode of Euphoria.
Zendaya has responded to a statement from the anti-drug campaign D.A.R.E. claiming that the second season of the actresses’ hit HBO series Euphoria has “misguidedly and erroneously” depicted teen drug use.
“Rather than further each parent’s desire to keep their children safe from the potentially horrific consequences of drug abuse and other high-risk behavior, HBO’s television drama, Euphoria, chooses to misguidedly glorify and erroneously depict high school student drug use, addiction, anonymous sex, violence, and other destructive behaviors as common and widespread in today’s world,” a D.A.R.E. rep recently told TMZ.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Emmy-winner Zendaya — who plays drug-addicted teen Rue in the series — described the physical and emotional scars left by this weekend’s fifth episode, which opened with Rue destroying the house she shares with her mother and younger sister in a withdrawal-fueled rage. The intense, hard-to-watch scene was “a very tough day,” according to Zendaya, who said she got “quite a few” bruises and still has scars on her legs from the thrashing sequence in which she kicks through doors and tears up her house looking for a stash of drugs her mother flushed down the toilet.
The scene builds to an intervention by Rue’s friends and family that sends the teen — who is painfully detoxing from opiates during the entire episode — on a harried run through the streets of her hometown in search of more drugs while trying to escape from pursuing cops. “Our show is in no way a moral tale to teach people how to live their life or what they should be doing,” Zendaya told the magazine in response to the D.A.R.E. statement. “If anything, the feeling behind Euphoria, or whatever we have always been trying to do with it, is to hopefully help people feel a little bit less alone in their experience and their pain. And maybe feel like they’re not the only one going through or dealing with what they’re dealing with.”
Zendaya said she filmed the harrowing episode right after flying back from the 2021 Venice Film Festival, calling it “so intense and scary to tackle, and obviously something that would be incredibly emotionally taxing, but also physically taxing.” She said she really cares about Rue and hates that the teen is in so much pain, from emotional trauma, but also from the physically painful effects of withdrawal.
And while many scenes in the series focus on Z and her fellow high schoolers partying and abusing illegal drugs, the actress said that Rue’s hard-to0-watch descent into chaos and desperation is not meant to glorify drug use, but is instead the portrait of an addict in the “midst of a degenerative disease… [that’s] taking control of her life. And in many ways she feels out of control. She doesn’t have the ability to control her emotions, her body.” She said season two was meant to focus on her character’s visceral pain and its impact on those who love her.
An executive producer of the show, Zendaya also told EW that knowing how much Rue means to people who’ve experienced addiction and loss is why she has hope for the way the character’s arc will develop. “We can’t leave her here,” she said. “It’s really important that there’s light at the end of the tunnel for her, because I think she has a lot of beauty inside of her. Whether or not she quite sees that yet, is her own thing… I’ve had a lot of people reach out and find so many parallels from all ages, all walks of life. So many parallels with Rue and her story and Rue means a lot to them in a way that I can understand, but also maybe in a way that I could never understand, and that means that means the most to all of us.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse or addiction, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 800-662-HELP (4357) is available 24/7.
