First-time actor Angus Cloud quickly gained attention when Euphoria premiered on HBO in 2019, and he only built on that momentum in season two. His character, Fezco, a drug dealer, has his home raided by a SWAT team and is caught in the climactic shootout, setting up one of the biggest cliffhangers in the 2022 season finale. But in 2023, while Euphoria was on hiatus, 25-year-old Cloud died of a fentanyl overdose.
This time, “Euphoria” is back after more than four years on the air. The Season 3 premiere picks up after a five-year time jump, with the previously high school characters all exploring early adulthood in different ways. And surprisingly, Fez is still alive.
He first appears when Lou (Zendaya) is catching up with Lexi (Maud Apatow) and tells her, “You know, you should really call Fez.” Lexi looks uncomfortable and says she knows she should but she’s too busy. According to Lou, Fez has told her many times that he wants to meet Lexi, and Lexi makes excuses about her work schedule not matching up.
“Pick up the phone and call him. He’s not going anywhere. He’s been in prison for 30 years,” Lu says.
Speaking to Variety’s Marc Malkin on the Season 3 red carpet, series creator Sam Levinson said, “There are a lot of scenes where people are talking to him on the phone. We thought, if we couldn’t keep him alive in his lifetime, we might be able to keep him alive on this show.” He added that Cloud “will be passionate about the storyline” in the final few episodes of the season. “I think he’ll like it,” he said.
In a separate interview with Variety, Levinson expanded on his thoughts on the cloud. “Losing Angus was a tragedy,” he said. “I spent a lot of time making sure he was healthy, and I was so angry when he passed away. He was one of the 70,000 people who died of a fentanyl overdose in this country that year. There are many questions that are asked of any individual who loved and lost someone. What does this mean? And I think death has a way of giving meaning to life. It shows us how important small moments are, how precious life is.”
“And with ‘Euphoria,’ we thought, how can we tell a story about that?” Levinson continued. “How do we tell a story about what it means to be alive and what it means to have the freedom to choose the path you want to take? But there are consequences to that. In many ways, this season was a tribute to Angus and an exploration of what the greater meaning of life is. And I think it comes down to gratitude. You have to be grateful for the small moments, the tragedies, and the beautiful parts of life too. That became the backbone of the theme.”
The Season 3 premiere of Euphoria also paid tribute to Cloud by adding the word “in memory” at the end of the episode, where his name appeared along with supporting actor Eric Dane, who passed away earlier this year, and executive producer Kevin Turen, who passed away in November 2023.
Additionally, the episode seemed to reference Cloud’s death by depicting the dangers of fentanyl in the plot. Read Variety’s summary for spoilers.
Mark Malkin contributed to this article.
