It’s been five very long years since Euphoria premiered on HBO, so you probably can’t recall most of what happened in the first episode. But it’s hard to forget the disturbing scene where 17-year-old Jules (played by Hunter Schafer) meets 40-something Cal (Eric Dane) in a seedy motel room, and he commits statuary rape. Schafer’s parents sure remember.
While on the Call Her Daddy podcast, Schafer revealed how she told her religious parents, including her pastor father, about the adult content on Euphoria. “There’s this whole pastor’s daughter trope, you know? And it gets kind of tough,” the Cuckoo star admitted in a clip shared by Page Six.
She continued, “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 is, they have to tell their congregation that their kid’s going to be on TV, and then their congregation — who are just, you know, little old nice white Christian people from the South — are going to watch this TV show and see me getting f*cked. I still do, like, feel bad because that’s something that they still have to deal with.”
Schafer’s father, Reverend Dr. Mac Schafer, is supportive of his daughter, who is trans, and the entire LGBTQ community. “We fully believe that LGBTQ folks are beautifully and wonderfully made by God and are an essential part of the human community. Everything we know about the ministry of Jesus tells us to work for the liberation, freedom and the full humanity of all people,” he wrote in a 2021 op-ed for People, adding, “The God I worship is not one of fear, but one whose essence is courageous love, especially towards those who are not in power and are unjustly pushed to the margins.”
You can listen to the podcast below.
