‘Euphoria’ Star Maude Apatow Thinks Lexi is Being a Little “Hostile” With Her Play
Euphoria Season 2 Episode 7 is the HBO show’s most theatrically over-the-top episode ever, and that’s saying something. Built around Lexi’s (Maude Apatow) play, Euphoria‘s latest episode flits between “reality” and Lexi’s dramatized version of it. We see a younger Rue (Zendaya) in pigtails snort cocaine at her father’s funeral and then watch as Lexi parades a lookalike classmate on stage as Rue’s alter ego. Cassie (Sydney Sweeney), Maddie (Alexa Demie), and Kat (Barbie Ferreira) also are played by doppelgängers. The “play” isn’t a play so much as it’s Lexi’s twisted diary, which sometimes feels a bit too close to a Burn Book. Oh, and everyone in Euphoria is watching this unfold on stage.
The only person not in the audience is the one Lexi wants there most: Fez (Angus Cloud). We’ve watched as Fezco and Lexi’s sweet relationship has evolved since the Euphoria Season 2 premiere. Lexi, in actor Angus Cloud’s own words, “brings out the innocence” in Fez. On the other hand, Fez is the person who has inspired Lexi to after her creative vision.
“I think Fezco is a big driving force for how she gains the confidence to end up doing [the play],” Euphoria star Maude Apatow shared with Decider last month.
Fez might be the person in Lexi’s corner, but he’s one of the few people not to fall under her script’s metaphoric axe. Lexi takes everyone else in her world to task, providing a campy comic look at her mother (played onstage by Austin Abrams in drag) and a withering portrayal of her sister Cassie.
Decider asked Apatow if Lexi was aware she was going to hurt Cassie so much with her play or if she was too naive to realize the damage it would do
“I think Lexi is definitely a little hostile,” Apatow said, while adding that the situation was more “complicated” than that. “She’s not trying to hurt anyone’s feelings but I think she has some very deep rooted issues with Cassie. So, she’s not trying to hurt her but maybe she is more than she’s letting on.”
“But I think she kind of maybe knows what she’s doing more than she lets on,” Apatow said.
The episode ends with Cassie leaving the play with boyfriend Nate (Jacob Elordi), who is upset by a homoerotic dance sequence in the boys’ locker room. What happens next in Lexi’s play? Will Fezco be okay? How will Euphoria Season 2 end? You’ll have to tune in to the Euphoria Season 2 finale next week to find out.