Euphoria star reveals why she quit controversial show after feeling ‘diminished’

A Euphoria star has spoken more about quitting the hit HBO show, after admitting her role was ‘diminishing as time went on’.

After season 2 wrapped in 2022, the actor announced she would not be returning to the controversial teenage drama.

Now, she’s spoken about what led her to make the decision to call it a day.

Barbie Ferreira said after conversations about how to make her role a ‘fully fleshed out character’ weren’t going anywhere, she asked: ‘Let me just go do my thing.’
On the podcast, Not Skinny But Not Fat, Barbie told host Amanda Hirsch that she ‘didn’t need to be on the biggest TV show on Earth’ if she wasn’t ‘acting’.

She went on: ‘I would rather do an indie movie where I’m acting, I’m flexing my muscles, I’m being creatively asked to do things rather than sitting around to be a background character.’
Barbie played Katherine ‘Kat’ Hernandez, a close friend of Maddy’s (Alexa Demie), who gets into cam-girling during the first season of the sex and drug-fuelled series.

Contrary to speculation at the time, Barbie reiterated: ‘It wasn’t dramatic.

‘In fact, it was kind of the opposite of dramatic, where it was like a long process of being like: ‘I don’t know if this is it, for me.’
It comes after the 29-year-old recently revealed to Deadline that her role on Euphoria was ‘diminishing’ and ‘wasn’t really letting [her] show [her] range’.

Continuing, she said: ‘What makes me happy is acting and growing my career.’
Around the time of Euphoria season 2 finishing, rumours started circulating around set drama involving Barbie.

Why is Euphoria season 3 so controversial?

The first episode of Euphoria season 3 aired earlier this week, and it’s already proven to be controversial.

In a trailer for upcoming episodes, we see Sydney Sweeney dressed as a baby while being photographed.

Her character Cassie, who is now an OnlyFans creator, sits with her legs open and a dummy in her mouth.

Some viewers who found the imagery disturbing have called for a boycott.

Sweeney is also thought to be feuding with Zendaya over their opposing politics, and Tom Holland’s fiancé is rumoured to be in disagreement with creator Sam Levinson.

The show’s previous composer, Labrinth, recently blasted the showbefore the latest season, announcing ‘f*** Euphoria’ in since-deleted posts on social media.

It was claimed that she stormed off over an alleged falling out with the show’s creator, Sam Levinson.

HBO denied this happening, and Barbie said of the speculation: ‘A lot of it is untrue.’
Since leaving Euphoria, Barbie has pursued other projects including indie comedy Mile End Kicks and horror mockumentary Faces of Death.

The former comes out on April 17 and the latter hit screens on April 10, making this month a busy time for the former Victoria’s Secret angel.

Unlike in the series starring Sydney Sweeney, Jacob Elordi and Zendaya, where she talked about being ‘a background character’, the actor stars in both films.

During the podcast with Hirsch, she said: ‘I do indie movies that are made on a shoestring budget.

But it’s cool and real stories.

And I’d rather that than be a second thought.’
The next episode of Euphoria season 3 will be available to watch on April 20 at 2am on Sky, NowTV, and HBO Max.
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