Sam Levinson believes that Euphoria fans are barking up the wrong tree when it comes to their criticism of Sydney Sweeney's OnlyFans storyline in the season three premiere of the show, which debuted on April 12. In response to the backlash, Levinson defended his creative choice, explaining that the scene where Cassie poses for a sexy dog photoshoot in her outdated home with fiancé Nate Jacobs (Jacob Elordi) was intentionally designed to showcase the absurdity of her fantasy.
"Cassie has got her dog house and her little dog ears and nose, and that has its own humor," Levinson told The Hollywood Reporter in an interview published on April 12. "But what makes the scene is the fact that her housekeeper is the one filming it."
Levinson and long-time director of photography Marcell Rév also focused on the lighting of the scene, which they felt complemented the gaudy home decor. "An obvious choice would've been something modern and very plain and fancy, but we ended up choosing this mid-century home, which is a little tacky but also stuck in the '70s," Rév explained. "It's probably a strange choice, but it gives us possibilities."
The lighting was also a key element in capturing the absurdity of the scene. "Some of these scenes we only lit with these ring lights that she would use," Levinson noted. "When you're inside, it's a beautiful, glowing front light, but then you jump out of it and it's just a pool of light and everything surrounding it is dark. It's just gnarly and jarring."
In addition to Cassie and Nate, the season three premiere also revealed what the rest of the Euphoria gang was up to after high school. Rue (Zendaya) is working as a drug mule to pay off her previous debts to dealer Laurie (Martha Kelly), while Lexi (Maude Apatow) and Maddy (Alexa Demie) are both pursuing Hollywood careers in publicity and television. The show also paid touching tributes to late costars Eric Dane and Angus Cloud at the end of the episode, though their characters are both alive in the show.
Given the changes from the show's time jump, Levinson emphasized the importance of making the show feel fresh while also staying authentic to the characters' stories. "We have a motto of: Evolve or die," he told THR. "We wanted to make sure we were changing things up."
"We're seeing them out in the world, in the wider world, and allowing the actors to communicate emotionally through their performances," Levinson added. "As opposed to in the past, when we did it more through camera. We wanted to see them fend for themselves."
