He doesn’t feel euphoric.
Warning: Spoilers ahead. Do not proceed if you have not watched the seventh episode of Season 3 of “Euphoria.”
Euphoria catapulted Jacob Elordi, Sidney Sweeney and Zendaya to their current A-list status, but now one of them has been removed from the show.
Season 3 saw Elordi’s controversial character, Nate Jacobs, killed off.
He was buried alive in a coffin with a pipe connected to the surface so he could breathe. A rattlesnake slipped down the pipe and bit him.
He had been put there by Naz (Jack Topalian), a gangster who owed him about $1 million.
Nas’ plan was to leave Nate there (with a breathing pipe) for 72 hours until his wife Kathy (Sweeney) could collect the money.
Unfortunately for Nate, he was attacked by a snake before 72 hours were up. Naz was also shot and killed by another gangster from Season 3, Alamo (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), and did not make it out alive. When Nate is exhumed, Cassie and Maddie (Alexa Demme) scramble to collect the money, but are in for a terrible surprise when they discover Nate’s corpse.
In the final “Inside the Episode” segment, Elordi said in a posthumous interview, “It was a great way to go about it. Nate is a person who has made so many mistakes and so many dark choices.”
The actor called it “bittersweet,” adding that the show was a “huge” part of “not just my career, but my life,” and said he was “proud” to be a part of it.
The Sam Levinson-produced drama, which first aired in 2019, was originally about the characters’ high school years. Elordi, Zendaya, and Sweeney were relatively unknown at the time.
“The euphoria changed my life,” Elordi, 28, told Variety magazine in 2023.
In the same year, the Australian star hit the big screen in Saltburn. According to Vogue Australia, his Wuthering Heights co-star Margot Robbie (a producer on Saltburn) suggested the role to him at the time after seeing him in Euphoria.
The “Frankenstein” star told GQ UK in 2023 that before appearing on the HBO show, “I hadn’t booked any work. I think I had $400 or $800 left in my bank account, but I think it was my last audition before I went home for a little while to earn some money and recuperate.”
In the first two seasons, Nate was the show’s villain. He was a high school athlete with anger issues. He manipulates, blackmails and intimidates those around him, strangling his then-girlfriend Maddie (Alexa Demme) and having an affair with her best friend Cassie (Sweeney).
Nate’s troubles stem from discovering a sex tape of his father, Cal (Eric Dane), when he was young.
In Season 3, which takes place five years after his high school years, Nate’s personality has changed dramatically.
His anger issues inexplicably seemed to disappear, his demeanor became softer and kinder, and he seemed to truly love Cassie (rather than taking advantage of her as in season 2).
Instead of being menacing at the wedding, he did a goofy dance. After he didn’t get his way in front of the bureaucrats, he didn’t threaten or threaten them, he just begged them, crying pitifully.
Furious fans criticized Euphoria for Nate’s unexplained personality change and accused him of subjecting the character to a “lobotomy.”
In Season 3, Nate takes over his father’s construction business, but runs into a problem when he has to stop construction due to the endangered flower, the fritillary.
The show also revealed that he had tricked people, including gangster Naz, into funding construction projects.
In the third episode of season 3, when Nate did not pay Naz $500,000, Naz sabotaged Nate and Cassie’s wedding and severely beat him on the first night. It all culminated with Nas cutting off Nate’s toe. However, Nate later sewed it back on.
Topalian exclusively told Page Six that Elordi did most of the stunts herself in the scene where Naz’s henchmen throw Nate away.
“It’s[Elordi]actually struggling, fighting, falling down and all of that,” he told us.
He called Elordi “committed,” “dedicated,” and “ready to go,” but said, “Between scenes, he’s back to being Jacob.”
“Obviously, he’ll get right back into character,” he continued. “But even though he was beaten and abused once (the director calls it ‘cut’), he still has a lot of fun. He still makes jokes and does things like that.”
Elordi told Entertainment Weekly in November that the acting process changed for Season 3. He said he likes to be “obsessed” with his work, taking the time to prepare “considering, building, and putting all the elements together.”
The actor, who has appeared in back-to-back roles in Frankenstein and Wuthering Heights and has been busy with bookings, said he “didn’t have time” to prepare for season three.
“And we didn’t have a script in the full sense of the word. We just had creative conversations with Sam, so we didn’t have a choice.”
The “Priscilla” actor also said he “loves” Nate, even though most fans hate him.
“I act to understand different experiences and express experiences that are different from my own,” Elordi said. “Playing him taught me a lot about empathy and patience, which is strange for a character like that.”
Elordi also told the outlet that she doesn’t care about Nate’s dark deeds.
“It’s such an honor to be a part of that show and also play a quote-unquote villain,” he said. “It’s always more fun that way. You don’t want to play the morally superior loser who saves the world.”
