With "Euphoria" now concluded, one of its stars has revealed she wasn't always comfortable filming some of the show's more explicit scenes. Alexa Demie, who portrayed Maddy Perez across all three seasons of the provocative drama, admitted she feared being fired if she declined to perform certain sex scenes on camera.
Demie's Fear of Losing Her Role
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, the 35-year-old actress confessed: "I thought that if I said no to doing them, then I wouldn't have the part. Not because anyone ever said that to me, but because I was so young and I didn't know." This fear persisted despite no explicit pressure from the production team.
Demie's character Maddy was the girlfriend of Nate Jacobs, played by Australian actor Jacob Elordi. The series featured numerous racy sequences, but one particular scene in Season 1 became a turning point for Demie.
The Turning Point: A Cheating Montage
A sex montage in Season 1, depicting Maddy cheating on Nate, made Demie feel so "uncomfortable" that she decided to voice her concerns. This sequence was pivotal for Demie, leading her to realize that on-screen nudity was not for her. She approached creator Sam Levinson and the production crew, and was surprised by their empathetic response.
"I'm not saying I don't love sex, and I think it can be portrayed beautifully and I know the show is portraying the life of teenage girls. But once I did it, I realised, 'OK, I don't love how this feels,'" she recalled. "So I said something, and everyone was empathetic, and I never did that again."
Support from Co-Star Sydney Sweeney
Demie's comments echo those of her co-star Sydney Sweeney, who played Cassie Howard and featured in some of the most explicit scenes. In 2022, Sweeney said that Levinson was always receptive to the cast's feelings about their characters' racy scenes. "Sam is amazing. [In season two], there are moments where Cassie was supposed to be shirtless and I would tell Sam, 'I don't really think that's necessary here.' He was like, 'OK, we don't need it,'" she told The Independent.
Sweeney added: "I've never felt like Sam has pushed it on me or was trying to get a nude scene into an HBO show. When I didn't want to do it, he didn't make me."
Fan Reactions to Season 3
However, in the third and final season, some viewers felt the show subjected Cassie to a repetitive cycle of "humiliation." Her OnlyFans storyline was described by some as shocking, excessive, and lacking meaningful direction. One user questioned online: "Is anyone else getting kinda bored with the Cassie humiliation ritual? Like what else honestly? What is going to happen with her character outside of this? Where is her character gonna go?" Another wrote: "Cassie rubbing coke on her p***y," adding a video with the comment, "Really? classless."
Despite these mixed reactions, Demie's experience highlights the importance of actors feeling empowered to speak up about their boundaries on set, and the positive outcomes that can result when production teams listen.
