- Dan Stevens thinks "Euphoria" star Hunter Schafer is bound for great things.
- Stevens stars with Schafer in the horror movie "Cuckoo" and sang her praises in an interview with BI.
Hunter Schafer's star is undoubtedly on the rise.
After making her acting debut in 2019 in HBO's "Euphoria" as Jules, the on-and-off girlfriend of Zendaya's character Rue, she's moved well beyond that, according to her "Cuckoo" costar Dan Stevens.
"I'd watched some of 'Euphoria' and thought she was incredibly impressive in that," Stevens told Business Insider during a recent interview for the film. "But I think her potential reaches so much further than that show."
Since "Euphoria," Schafer has appeared in a handful of movies, including "The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes," Yorgos Lanthimos' "Kinds of Kindness," and "Cuckoo," a trippy horror movie in which Stevens' German resort owner torments Schafer's character.
Did Stevens, who knows a thing or two about moving on from a breakthrough role in a critically acclaimed TV drama, give any guidance to Schafer as she looks to the next phase of her career?
"I have very little advice to give somebody who's as talented as she is and who has so much enthusiasm and excitement and energy about what she does," Stevens said, adding, "It was a delight to get to watch that, and to get to work with somebody at the dawn of what's no doubt a very, very exciting career."
In another recent interview with Vanity Fair, Stevens more directly compared Schafer's time on the HBO drama with her experience filming "Cuckoo," which she filmed before her other movie roles despite its later release date.
"Her only experience prior to this was working on 'Euphoria,' which is a very, very different experience, and by all accounts, not a terribly pleasant one," Stevens told Vanity Fair. "I think it was refreshing and delightful for her to realize that not every job needs to be like 'Euphoria.'"
He added, "It was nice to be able to present that and to be a part of that. We can still shoot this incredibly fucked-up, difficult scene, but everybody's still friends at the end of the day and nobody needs to have months of therapy afterwards."
HBO announced the renewal of "Euphoria" for a third season in February 2022, around the same time season two finished airing. But in the two and a half years since, production has been delayed repeatedly.
A July 2024 report by The Hollywood Reporter suggested that creative differences between star Zendaya, who's also a producer, and creator Sam Levinson contributed to the delays, as well as the unexpected deaths of star Angus Cloud and producer Kevin Turen. Still, the network said it's planning for a January 2025 filming start date with all the main stars, including Schafer, already signed on to return.
While appearing on the "Call Her Daddy" podcast in early August, Schafer admitted she has "no fucking idea what's going on" with the third season. She said the deaths of Cloud and Turen had affected the cast and crew emotionally and impacted production's timeline, and added that "political things" in the industry were also a factor.
"If we do go back, that's going to be tough," Schafer said. "I mean, and I think there's a world in which we can channel that into making it a beautiful season three, if it is supposed to happen. But that shit really threw everyone for a loop."