Episode 5 of Euphoria’s second season was recently aired, and Zendaya’s gritty performance of Zendaya (as Rue), has been applauded by fans and movie critics, who are both astounded and gutted.
The episode, Stand Still Like a Humming Bird, opens with Rue, confronting her mother regarding the location of her drug stash.
The episode slowly unfurls the tension that resulted from Rue confronting her mother. It dissolves into bits of equally charged scenes that see Zendaya running around town and away from everything: cars, cops, loved ones, and criminals.
“It was so intense and scary to tackle,” Zendaya said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, on the subject of Rue and the draining role she played.
“Our show is in no way a moral tale to teach people how to live their life or what they should be doing.”
“If anything, the feeling behind Euphoria, or whatever we have always been trying to do with it, is to hopefully help people feel a little bit less alone in their experience and their pain.”
“And maybe feel like they’re not the only one going through or dealing with what they’re dealing with,” Zendaya said, in reaction to D.A.R.E condemning Euphoria for supposedly glorifying teen drug use and addiction.
Euphoria is an American television series written by Sam Levinson for HBO. The drama revolves around Euphoria’s executive producer, Zendaya, and other high school characters and their experience with trauma, drugs, love, sex, friendships, and the complexity of pre-adult identity.
