The Stars of Euphoria Reveal What It Took to Film Season 2

“These youths will be the death of me,” is a real statement this E! News’ TV editor uttered while tuning into the Feb. 13 showing of Euphoria.

The latest episode of the HBO teen drama featured Rue (Zendaya) suffering a terrible bout of withdrawal, Cassie (Sydney Sweeney) attempting to slit her wrists with a wine opener and Nate (Jacob Elordi) traumatizing Maddy (Alexa Demie) with a manipulative game of Russian roulette. And, like we said, this all occurred in one episode.

So it’s no wonder that now, in several interviews, the cast is opening up about what it took to film this unremitting season of television. For starters, in a cover story for The Cut, Zendaya straight-up called her character reaching rock bottom “f–ing brutal.”

We can accept this description as fact, with last week’s episode showing Rue busting down a door, running through traffic and repeatedly being stabbed with a morphine needle. “I can mostly shake it off,” she said of her challenging part. “But there are days where you’re just in it, and even if your brain knows it’s not real, your body takes on this anxiousness and anger.”