Barbie Ferreira quit Euphoria because she didn’t want to feel like she was just a “background character.”
“Some people say, ‘That’s what I would do.’ I’m like, ‘Good for you,'” the 29-year-old actress said on Tuesday’s episode of the podcast “Not Thin, But Not Fat,” insisting that her exit was “not dramatic.”
“Do I want to be a background character for nine months? That’s totally fine and cool. But I wanted to do something else.”
Ferreira, who played Cat Hernandez in the first two seasons, further explained that her exit was “kind of the opposite of dramatic.”
She described it as a “long process” in which “we talked to people and we were trying to figure out a way to make Kat a fully fleshed-out character, but we just couldn’t make it.”
When it became clear that she and the show’s creative team were unable to chart a path for her character, the “Nope” actress asked them to “let me do what I want.”
“If you’re not acting, you don’t need to be on the biggest TV show on the planet,” she said on the pod. “That’s why I’d rather do independent films where I’m asked to act and flex my muscles and be creative and do something…rather than sit as a background character.”
In August 2022, Ferreira suddenly announced her departure from Euphoria, sharing a statement on her Instagram Story at the time.
“After four years of embodying the most special and enigmatic character of all, Kat, I must say a tearful farewell,” she wrote at the time.
“I hope that many of you find yourself in her as much as I did, and that watching her develop into the character she is today brings you joy.”
“(I) gave her all my care and love, and (I) hope you all feel that too,” she added.
Since then, she has repeatedly denied rumors that a behind-the-scenes feud between her and show creator Sam Levinson was the driving force behind her shocking exit.
The third and final season of “Euphoria” returns on Sunday after a four-year hiatus, with the return of Zendaya, Jacob Elordi, Sidney Sweeney, Maud Apatow, Hunter Schaefer and Alexa Demme.
In the first episode, the show explained the fate of Angus Cloud’s character, who died in July 2023 at the age of 25. He also paid tribute to the late actor Eric Dane, who passed away in February after battling ALS.
Story-wise, the series remains one of the most controversial on TV, with Sweeney’s Cassie shocking viewers with her OnlyFans baby costume and Elordi’s Nate receiving huge backlash from fans.
New episodes of “Euphoria” stream every Sunday at 9pm ET on HBO.
