Barbie Ferreira calls her “euphoria” exit a mutual decision

Barbie Ferreira addresses her exit as follows Euphoria‘s second season and the negative attention it received from both the press and fans.

While appearing in the latest episode of Armchair Expert with Dax Shepardthe No actress opened up about her decision to leave the show, which sparked rumors of clashes with showrunner and writer Sam Levinson. Ferreira, who played Kat in HBO’s hit high school drama, says the sheer amount of attention and intense scrutiny of the details reported around her departure “really weighed on me.” But in the end, the choice was a “mutual decision” around her character Kat, “whom I love so much.”

“I don’t think there was a place she could go,” the actress says at one point during the podcast. “I mean, I think there were places you could go. I just don’t think it would fit the show. I don’t know if it would do her justice. And I think both sides knew that. I really didn’t want to be the fat best friend. I don’t want to play that and I think they didn’t want to either.”

Ferreira added that given the chance and depending on what material she would have worked with, she would have continued to play Kat “as long as I was asked.” But at this point, the size of the ensemble, Levinson’s own writing interests, and her vision of Ferreira made things too complicated.

“I felt [it] was kind of a battle for both sides. Sam, me – it was a struggle to find a continuation of her, ”the actress explained. “That was actually really hurtful to see and see the fans get upset.”

“I don’t know. I just felt like maybe I was welcome a little too long. So to me it actually felt good to be okay, I don’t have to worry about this and we both don’t have to worry about this because,” she continued. “Sam writes for things that concern him. I don’t think he’s related to Kat. I relate to Kat. So I had to follow my own path.”

Coming to that mutual understanding, Ferreira commented that it was “really liberating for both of us”, despite how much it hurt personally because of her and the fans’ love for the character “with all its good and bad – mostly bad, what I love .” It also made not only her feel happier, but “everyone else” as they were now free of “pressure to make it a drama it isn’t” and she could “do my own thing.”

“It was a character I’ve never seen on TV before and I don’t know if we’ll ever get something like that in that particular way that was so tense,” she added. “In the beginning it was very difficult. I’m like okay, what do I do now? And then I really dug into what I want and who I want to be and what kind of actor I want to be, and the kind of person I want to be and it’s really healed from all the chaos.

Ferreira says she and her former castmates were close despite the headlines and she believes that certain criticisms of the explicit series, along with sexism, played a role in the rumors that her departure was related to on-set behavior. She also explained that the reason she hasn’t gone into more detail publicly is because she “got sucked into this drama that I never asked for.” And while she eventually tried to avoid sparking it, “it’s sort of taken on a life of its own,” turning into “chaos” that made her look harder to work with. “I don’t want people to think I do things like that,” she said.

While generalizing about the “lore” surrounding her experience on the show, the former Euphoria star took the time to address an allegation where she supposedly walked off the set of the show. “I actually didn’t walk off the set,” she said. “I sprained my ankle once and had to have an x-ray. Maybe that’s what they mean.”

She also spoke about the show’s production circumstances, which she said involved “trying out a lot of things” in season one, which she “liked so much.” Describing it as an acting boot camp, Ferreira said there was no rehearsal period when shooting the pilot and that the cast was “encouraged not to take acting classes.” That doesn’t mean working on scenes beforehand. “I think it works that way because it’s so real and so personal. Once I found Kat as a character, it was super second nature to me.

She added that it felt like the “best acting class ever,” even as production stretched from a planned five months to nine in season one. “We thought it was going to get shorter, so it just kept getting longer,” she added. “It was a long time, and season two is the same way. Now they knew how much time they needed, but it was a lot of trial and error in season one.

While discussing the events of the season two finale, Fez actor Angus Cloud narrated The Hollywood Reporter that the cast usually gets two or three scripts at a time, but in the final script things kept changing, and we “didn’t get the script until we were filming”. Colleague Euphoria star Jacob Elordi also shared that when it comes to filming, “what everyone sees on television, the shots that people talk about, the feelings they get, the conversation around the show, that’s because certain shots need the over-30s. ”

HBO previously defended the production after the season two finale amid a report of 18-hour days, with the production not providing meals or allowing bathroom visits on the show’s set. According to The everyday beastthese allegations led to “several complaints” to SAG-AFTRA and a union representative who visited the LA-based group.

“The well-being of cast and crew on our productions is always a top priority,” the cable operator said in a statement at the time. “The production fully complied with all safety guidelines and guild protocols. It’s not uncommon for drama series to have complex shooting, and COVID protocols add an extra layer. We maintain an open line of communication with all guilds, including SAG-AFTRA. No formal investigations have ever been launched.”

The series has been renewed for a third season, with Emmy-winning star Zendaya as the narrator THR of her hopes for her character’s future, Rue: “I think it will be exciting to explore the high school characters. I want to see what Rue looks like on her journey to sobriety, how chaotic that could look.