The Euphoria cast and crew have mourned the deaths of some of their colleagues over the years.
Euphoria, which premiered in 2019, originally followed troubled high school student Rue (Zendaya) as she struggled to remain sober after rehab. The hit HBO series was quickly renewed for a second season after its premiere, but it took nearly three years for the next batch of episodes to air.
Season 3 was originally set to air on HBO in 2025 before facing several obstacles, including creator Sam Levinson’s commitment to his short-lived series The Idol. The dual WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, which took place in late 2023, also prolonged the delay.
Since season 2 concluded, the cast went through a loss when Angus Cloud died at age 25 in July 2023 following an accidental overdose. The show is expected to address the fate of his character, Fezco, while Eric Dane‘s Cal made an appearance in the trailer one month after the actor’s death following a battle with ALS. He was 53.
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“Some people ask why it took so long between seasons 2 and 3. There were obvious factors — the strikes, trying to make a schedule work with our very in-demand cast, but the real time was in trying to figure out how to find a way to pay respect to those who we lost,” Levinson said in a speech at the season 3 premiere in April 2026.
He continued: “When Angus died, it was tough. I loved him deeply, and I fought hard to keep him clean. The year he died, in 2023, he was one of 73,000 people in America who died of a fentanyl overdose. I learned a whole lot that year, but what I realized more than anything is that death is what gives life meaning. You can’t be arrogant about existence. You’re forced to reckon with the fact that life itself is a wonder, a gift, a profound blessing.”
Levinson also explained how the show will pay tribute on screen.
“There are a lot of scenes where people are either talking to him on the phone,” he told Variety about the decision for Fez to still be part of the story. “I thought that if I couldn’t keep him alive in life then maybe within this show that I can control and keep him alive there. I think the whole thing was to honor him and also I can’t wait for you to see the last few episodes. I think he would be cracking up at his story line. I think he would love it.”
Keep scrolling for the most heartbreaking Euphoria tragedies over the years:
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Angus Cloud
After playing Fez in the first two seasons of the show, Angus Cloud died in July 2025 following an accidental overdose. He was 25.
Eric Dane
Eric Dane, who played Cal, died in February 2026 at age 53 after a battle with ALS.
Kevin Turen
Executive producer Kevin Turen was involved in Sam Levinson’s Euphoria and The Idol before he died at age 44 in November 2023 from acute cardiac dysfunction and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, with coronary artery disease listed as a contributing factor.
