Remember a few years ago when Westworld pulled off that “debaucherous giant orgy” scene, which included “genital-to-genital touching” and actors needing to “contort to form a table-like shape while being fully nude”?
Well, another HBO series is all like, “Hold my beer.”
Created by Sam Levinson (the son of Rain Men director Barry Levinson), Euphoria “follows a group of high school students as they navigate love and friendships in a world of drugs, sex, trauma, and social media,” according to the network’s official plot summary. That may be underplaying the level of teenage excess, though. The Drake-produced series, starring Zendaya, has “30 penises in one episode” (that’s a lot of penises), according to the Hollywood Reporter, and there’s a “sex scene between teens involving choking” in the pilot. Euphoria is so explicit that one actor even reportedly quit the show:
The risqué material was even too much for a principal cast member. While shooting the pilot, actor Brian “Astro” Bradley, 22, a former X Factor contestant and rapper signed to Nas’ label, wanted out of the show. Details surrounding his exit are fiercely guarded, but sources say Bradley was uncomfortable shooting scenes that weren’t in the original pilot script and suggested his character would experiment with homosexuality in future episodes. After a lengthy back-and-forth with producers, HBO stepped in and replaced Bradley with The Hate U Give‘s Algee Smith.
When asked about the re-casting, Sydney Sweeney, who has an “intense sex scene” with Bradley-then-Smith’s character in the pilot, commented, “Let’s just say I’m very glad that Algee is playing the character.”
Anyway, 30 penises; one episode. Euphoria premieres on June 16.
(Via Hollywood Reporter)
