Acclaimed by critics and the public, season 2 of Euphoria nevertheless experienced some behind-the-scenes difficulties, including allegations of a toxic work environment to which the HBO chain wanted to respond.
Actors cut during editing because of disputes with the showrunner of the series? Badly treated extras? These are the charges facing Euphoria, the hit HBO series whose season 2 has just ended after a burst of intense episodes, marked by dramatic events.
The Daily Beast, which had published an investigation in February on the stormy backstage of the series available in France on OCS, has just to reiterate his allegations. After having assured that the character of Kat had less presence on the screen this season because of tensions between her interpreter, Barbie Ferreira, and the showrunner Sam Levinson, the American media affirms that many extras had a very bad experience of the filming of season 2.
Endless hours, no pee breaks…
Several sources indeed report a nightmarish and toxic work environment where the days sometimes lasted 18 hours and where the extras were not allowed to go to the bathroom when they wanted to or that they had to wait for hours before leaving. get a meal…
Other sources indicate that the extras recruited for the party sequences had no dedicated places to wait for their scenes and had to wait outside at night on sketchy chairs even though they were in light evening clothes.
Also according to the Daily Beast, people started to “drop like flies”, forcing the casting agency to constantly hire new extras. Complaints would then have been filed with SAG-AFTRA, the American professional union of actors and extras, which would have sent one of its members on the set.
HBO refutes the allegations
Faced with these charges, HBO shared the following statement :
The well-being of the cast and crew in our productions is always a top priority. The production followed all safety guidelines and guild protocols.
“It’s not uncommon for drama series to have complex shoots, and COVID protocols add an extra layer. We maintain an open line of communication with all guilds, including SAG-AFTRA. No formal investigation was requested.“
For its part, the SAG-AFTRA provided than “all actors should enjoy the protections enjoyed by our members, and production companies that sign our agreements must abide by our safety protocols, wage and hour rules, and other protections, regardless of union status of an actorwithout giving further details regarding the complaints she allegedly received and how they were handled.
Despite these internal concerns, Season 2 of Euphoria was a huge ratings success, becoming the second most-watched series in HBO history behind Game of Thrones. The channel has therefore obviously already renewed the series for a season 3 which should not fail to continue to make people talk!