Hunter Schafer reveals how she told her parents about Euphoria sex scenes: ‘I still feel bad’
Hunter Schafer as trans teen Jules in Euphoria. (HBO Max)
Hunter Schafer has reflected on the moment she had to tell her religious parents – her father is a Presbyterian minister – about her role as trans student Jules Vaughn in Euphoria and its very explicit scenes.
Both season one and two of HBO’s dark, teen drama featured Jules experiencing some pretty devastating storylines, including her difficult relationship with her mother, who had addiction issues.
Jules’ most toe-curling scenes included her receiving anal sex from DominantDaddy, aka Cal (Eric Dane), the middle-aged father of fellow student Nate Jacobs (Jacob Elordi), as she embarked on a destructive period of seeking out men for sex.
In another scene in season one, Jules, who also struggled with depression and anxiety, cut herself with a knife during a party, after being antagonised by Nate.
Schafer still feels bad about having to tell her parents about the role and what it entailed, despite them being “on the chiller side of Christianity”, she told Call Her Daddy podcast host Alex Cooper recently. She also discussed the impact that being cheated on by her Euphoria co-star Dominic Fike had on her.
“When I had to tell my parents, ‘In the first episode, I’m having anal sex with a 45-year-old and cutting myself in the arm’, my first thought was: ‘OK, they have to tell their congregation that their kid’s going to be on TV’,” Schafer said.
“Then their congregation, who are just nice, old white Christian people from the south, are going to watch this show and see me getting butt f**ked. I still feel bad because that’s something they still have to deal with.”
Although Schafer’s biggest post-Euphoria role was much less graphic – she played Tigris Snow in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes last year – her next big movie part might have her parents’ congregation feeling squeamish again.
She’s starring as teenage outcast Gretchen in Tilman Singer’s very bloody and very bonkers horror film Cuckoo, which his due to open in US cinemas on Thursday (8 August).
As for whether she’ll be making a Euphoria return any time soon, the jury is still out. “We have no f**king idea what’s going on,” she said. You can ask all the cast. The real tea is that a lot has happened.”
Euphoria was last on screen in 2022, and filming for season three isn’t set to being until early next year. Schafer acknowledged things might be quite different and difficult, following the death of Angus Cloud, who played loveable drug dealer Fezco.
Cloud died of an accidental drug overdose just over a year ago.
