Musician and actor Dominic Fike admitted in a video interview with Apple Music that he was a “drug addict” when he joined the second season of HBO’s “Euphoria.” He was cast as Elliot, a drug user who perpetuates Rue’s relapse and finds himself in a love triangle with Rue (Zendaya) and Jules (Hunter Schafer). According to Fike, the show’s creator, Sam Levinson, tried to hire a “sober coach” to keep Fike clean in real life, but the plan failed.
“I was a drug addict and coming on to a show that’s, you know, mainly about drugs, is very difficult,” Fike told Zane Lowe. “Sam [Levinson], the director and writer, got me a sober coach, somebody to be there all the time. It did not work.”
When asked if he was ever high while filming “Euphoria” scenes, Fike responded, “Oh my god. Yeah, dude. I was so fucked up during a lot of that show. It was really bad.”
“I was reprimanded for it,” Fike added. “I almost, you know, got kicked off the show… They were like, ‘Bro, you cannot be doing this.’”
Fike was not fired, and he said that Levinson ended up using some takes of him where he was actually high because he “had to” given the dearth of other options.
Speaking to Variety in 2021 while “Euphoria” Season 2 was in production, Fike admitted that he “didn’t have to do much acting” to play Elliot because “he’s exactly like me.” He went on to praise Zendaya and Schafer as “the nicest people ever.”
“They’re both really funny,” Fike added of his co-stars. “We were doing a scene the other day and had to keep redoing it because we just couldn’t stop laughing.”
Watch Fike’s full interview with Apple Music in the video below.