The third and likely final season of “Euphoria” is a case study in excess. It’s Artemis II from the TV show, flying far over the top and past the moon before crashing back to Earth. What was once a gang of wayward teenagers dressed in purple has morphed into a barren hellscape of drug-smuggling cartels, gun-selling prostitutes, mummifying sugar daddies and online streamers. These kids are certainly not in high school anymore and don’t feel constrained by what they once were.
Part of the reason for this evolution is that the two forces that kept Sam Levinson’s conflicted protagonist Rue (Zendaya) grounded have either completely (her sister Gia, played by Storm Reid) or largely (her mother Leslie, brought to life by Nika King) disappeared from the show. Lew’s absence becomes more jarring to the viewer, as Lou reiterates that she feels estranged from her mother and adrift at sea, and that she keeps calling Lesley. Sunday’s sixth episode of the season, titled “Stand Still and See,” finally gave us a fleeting glimpse of Leslie on the phone.
Lou had just received a lifeline in the form of an incriminating exchange she recorded on her cell phone between Alamo (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) and Laurie (Martha Kelly) regarding smuggling fentanyl in an ambulance from Mexico to the United States. This was enough information to get her away from the DEA. She also gets slapped into another dimension by Jules (Hunter Shafer) after he throws some insults at her about Jules’ whole sugar baby situation. And Lou found himself praying for forgiveness in the church pew. She calls her mother. “I love you so much, and I’m sorry if I made it difficult. I never realized how hard it was to be here alone,” Lou says to Leslie. “I know I’m not alone. I know that. But I will. I’ll be home soon.”
And for the first time all season, we see Leslie on the opposing line. “I love you Lou,” Leslie replied, looking solemnly out the window.
Nika King played the role of Leslie in season 3 of Euphoria.
HBO
It’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it scene, but its brevity surprised not only King, who plays Leslie, but also her mother. On Sunday night, shortly after the episode aired, King posted a hilarious clip of his mother Sharon on his Instagram, “poking” her at the brevity of the scene and asking, “What happened?” And she joked that the internet waited “three years” to see her utter a single word.
“My mom is my best friend. She’s seen me go through the ups and downs of this industry, and she always tries to make me laugh and understand that this isn’t the end of the world,” King told Variety. “I was telling her what I did and I was looking forward to watching it, and when we watched it together, she was looking at me like, ‘What happened?'” I thought that was a funny moment to share with my followers and see the dynamic between my mom and me. ”
This dynamic between King and her mother, whom she calls “the true comedian of the family,” helped her vividly capture the plight of Leslie, a mother desperately trying to communicate with her daughter as she descends further and further into drug addiction.
“When I was growing up, my mom was an addict, so I always carry that memory of helplessness with me. It’s easy for me to change that,” King says. “The dynamic between Lou and Leslie is very similar to my mother and I.”
Things finally turned around when Dr. King’s mother was given the option of getting clean or placing her children in foster care. This was a harsh reality for Sharon, whose mother was murdered when she was young and who herself grew up in a foster care facility.
“She lived this life without a biological mother,” King said. “She was raised by a pastor and his wife, and it wasn’t the best of circumstances. My mother went to rehab because she was told she would lose her children if she didn’t get clean. That was the turning point for her. It was a long process to get us here.”
King grew up in Miami and didn’t know he wanted to be an actor until he went to college. She enrolled with the intention of going into physical therapy, but took an acting class and immediately thought, “This is what I want to do for the rest of my life.” She then moved to Los Angeles and dove headfirst into the world of comedy, from sketch comedy and stand-up to studying improv with The Groundlings. King appeared in “Hannah Montana,” “Two Broke Girls,” and “Wanda Sykes Presents Hellerious.” He hosted a monthly comedy show called “Nica King and Friends!” at Improv. She was also a member of the all-black female sketch comedy group Elite Delta Force 3 (EDF3), along with Robin Theide and Nefetari Spencer.
But it was her role as Leslie in Euphoria that really made a difference for her.
“It was a breakthrough role because it was very different from what I was used to doing in dramatic roles,” King says. “That set me on a different path. People who saw me in that role were definitely surprised, and I was kind of surprised as well. I never thought I could do such depth, but being opposite Storm, Z and Colman (Domingo), you really have to step up your game.”
King auditioned for the role of Leslie in May 2018, but was only given a brief description of her role: a strong, loving mother who struggles with a daughter battling drug addiction. She never thought she would have a chance, given the competition in the audition.
“I saw all the actresses that I grew up watching in the waiting room, and I thought, oh, I’m never going to get this,” King says. “I saw Garcelle Beauvais and Jill Marie Jones there.”
To King’s surprise, she soon received a call from her agent telling her that the project was on hold and that she would be playing Zendaya’s mother. After that, she struck up a chemistry with Zendaya. She describes Zendaya as “a really cool, laid-back person.” And the rest, as they say, is history.
The second season of “Euphoria” premiered in January 2022, and the third season ended in April 2026. During the long hiatus between Seasons 2 and 3, King returned to Florida and helped his mother, a former postal worker, run Blue Tree Café Vegan Soul Food, a restaurant in Fort Lauderdale that had been open and serving food since 2007. She also continued performing sets at comedy clubs. During these sets, King talked about fans coming up to her and asking when “Euphoria” Season 3 would be released, joking that “I had no idea” and “I haven’t paid my rent in six months so I want it back.” This clip went viral.
“During my hiatus, I kept making that joke, and it just happened to go viral!” King says. “It wasn’t even a finished joke. It was still being worked out in the lab. But everything happens the way it’s supposed to. It brought attention to the actor’s real journey. I’m not a celebrity or a superstar. I’m a working actor.”
Dr. King regretted that his clearly meant joke was “misinterpreted” and taken literally by the media.
“I belong to comedy clubs and tell jokes, and I realized that I was on a different level in terms of visibility and how the jokes could be twisted and out of touch with my creativity,” she says.
After the video went viral, King was told that he would not be returning for season 3 of Euphoria.
“My third-year contract option was terminated. They said they were going in a different direction,” she says. “Then after they started filming season three last year, they called me and said, ‘Hey, I’d like to bring you in to film a few episodes.’
We exchanged several phone calls and emails, and a few days later King was on a plane to Los Angeles. She states that they shot for one day and shot material for two episodes. That means she could appear in another episode this season, but we don’t know exactly how much we’ll see of her.
“Sam is always rewriting and shaping the episodes, and the script has always been pretty secretive, so you only know what they’re shooting on the day of it. So I don’t know,” King says. “But I love Leslie. It’s ride or die for her. We all have mothers and we all know that dynamic. Leslie prays for Lou to sort herself out. And even though the story jumps to the point where she’s no longer in high school, I think her mother and sister are pivotal characters when it comes to Lou’s sobriety and mental health.”
These days, King helps out at her mother’s vegan restaurant in Fort Lauderdale, prepares for a summer program that will feed about 400 children in underprivileged communities, and teaches acting classes at the Kim Houston Acting Studio near Hollywood, Florida. She is also preparing a second comedy special and would like to try out more dramatic roles like Leslie.
“This is such a great role and such a great springboard for a dramatic career that I would love to play the role on the same playing field and level of storytelling,” King says. “It’s kind of a story of people overcoming big obstacles.”
