Euphoria has brought together a diverse group of young actors to portray the most grueling parts of the teenage experience. In the first two seasons, they’ve taken massive amounts of drugs, been threatened, and had their nude photos revealed. As much as you want to scream at them to make better choices, you also want to hug them and tell them life gets better. As HBO’s first teen drama, the cast acts in scenes that are uniquely explicit for the genre. How old are the “teens†of Euphoria, actually? Here’s what you need to know about these talented and fearless actors, including and especially the fact that almost all of them are over 21. Soak in their youth!
Zendaya as Rue Bennett
Age in real life: 25
Age in the show: 17
What’s up with Rue: Fresh out of rehab, Rue is struggling to manage her addiction. Well, “struggling†implies she’s actually trying to stay sober, which she is not. Her best friend and girlfriend, Jules, however, is changing her mind about a lot of things. Maybe she’ll find a change of heart. Rue, through voice-over, is also the show’s narrator, a sarcastic guide to the messed-up world of being a teenager.
What’s up with Zendaya: Euphoria is the former Disney Channel star’s first major television role. When she isn’t playing the surly Rue, she’s playing the even surlier M.J. in Marvel’s Spider-Man films. Previously, she starred in the movie-musical The Greatest Showman.
Hunter Schafer as Jules Vaughn
Age in real life: 23
Age in the show: 17
What’s up with Jules: In the first episode of Euphoria, the new girl in town, Jules, takes a kitchen knife and cuts her arm open to prove to hottie Nate Jacobs that she cannot be played with. It tells you everything you need to know about her: She’s adventurous, optimistic, and resilient as hell. As a trans woman herself, Hunter helped creator Sam Levinson develop Jules as a character, making sure it was true to her own experience.
What’s up with Hunter: This is Hunter Schafer’s first acting role … ever. As a model, Hunter has appeared in campaigns for Dior, Helmut Lang, Miu Miu, Vera Wang, and other designers.
Jacob Elordi as Nate Jacobs
Age in real life: 24
Age in the show: 18
What’s up with Nate: Nate is so complicated. On the surface, he’s a hot, hot-headed jock with an even hotter cheerleader girlfriend, Maddy Perez. His inner life gets so complex that even he doesn’t know how to deal with it. Over the course of the show, Nate will have to deal with complicated feelings for his dad that would make Freud roll over in his grave and balance relationships with Cassie and Maddie.
What’s up with Jacob: The Australian actor starred in Netflix’s teen rom-com The Kissing Booth which is, in a lot of ways, the exact opposite of Euphoria. He reprised his role as Noah Flynn in the film’s sequel.
Alexa Demie as Maddy Perez
Age in real life: 31
Age in the show: 18
What’s up with Maddy: A lot of Maddy’s problems would be solved if she gave up on her relationship with Nate. You just wanna shake her and say, “Girl, you don’t need any of that!†It’s not as if she would listen, but at least you could say it to her face and not to your TV screen every Sunday night. Maddy and Nate’s relationship is rooted in being the hottest people in town, but the only thing that blooms from it is extreme jealousy.
What’s up with Alexa: The girl is booked and busy (and possibly immortal.) She’s appeared on Ray Donovan, Netflix’s Love, The OA, and Jonah Hill’s film, Mid90s.Â
Sydney Sweeney as Cassie Howard
Age in real life: 24
Age in the show: 18
What’s up with Cassie: Cassie knows what she wants. Right now, it just happens to be her best friend Maddy’s ex-boyfriend, Nate. In season two, Cassie gets up every day to gua shua and pluck her way to visual perfection for Nate, but the sweet, loyal Cassie of season one might still be in there somewhere, despite her girl-code rule breaks.
What’s up with Sydney: An HBO veteran, Sydney Sweeney played Camille Preaker’s mental-hospital roommate in Sharp Objects. She’s also worked on Netflix’s Everything Sucks! and The Handmaid’s Tale. She played a snarky, theory-reading college student in The White Lotus, which has since been renewed for season two.
Barbie Ferreira as Kat Hernandez
Age in real life: 25
Age in the show: 18
What’s up with Kat: Kat is in the process of figuring out how to express her sexuality. She’s not the precious virgin everyone makes her out to be, but she’s not exactly Maddy or Cassie, either. Until the idea is fully formed, Kat is fine just being unapologetically herself.
What’s up with Barbie: As the OG Tumblr girl, Barbie got her start modeling for brands like Adidas, Asos, and Forever 21 before cutting her HBO teeth on a couple episodes of Divorce.
Maude Apatow as Lexi Howard
Age in real life: 24
Age in the show: 17
What’s up with Lexi: Lexi is Cassie’s soft-spoken little sister. She used to be best friends with Rue, but even though they’ve grown apart, Lexi is still there if Rue needs her to pee in a squeeze bottle so she can fake her drug tests. In season two, she spends her time directing elaborate out-of-budget school plays and flirting with Fezco, their local drug dealer.
What’s up with Maude: Secret nepotism baby? Judd Apatow and Leslie Mann’s eldest daughter has taken on more and more acting roles in recent years. Her last credit was as Grace in Assassination Nation.
Algee Smith as Chris McKay
Age in real life: 27
Age in the show: 19
What’s up with Chris: It’s Chris McKay’s freshman year of college, and that might be one of the top five scariest things going on in this show. While dealing with fitting in, he was also trying to maintain his relationship with Cassie in season one before their breakup.
What’s up with Algee: Algee had roles in The New Edition Story, The Bobby Brown Story, and, most recently, The Hate U Give with Amandla Stenberg.
Angus Cloud as Fezco
Age in real life: 23
Age in the show: Rue reveals that Fezco dropped out of high school, but his actual age is unclear.
What’s up with Fezco: Your friendly neighborhood drug dealer, Fezco is about more than just a good time. He wants to make his money, yeah, but he genuinely cares about Rue’s safety.
What’s up with Angus: This is Angus’s first acting role. He graduated from the Oakland School of the Arts in 2016.
Storm Reid as Gia Bennett
Age in real life: 18
Age in the show: 13
What’s up with Gia: When Rue overdosed, Gia was the one who walked into her room and found her. Since her big sister has been back from rehab, the pair has been slowly mending their relationship.
What’s up with Storm: Storm Reid made an impact as Meg in A Wrinkle in Time. She also appeared in Ava DuVernay’s When They See Us. Her first feature film role was in 12 Years a Slave.
Austin Abrams as Ethan
Age in real life: 22
Age in the show: 18
What’s up with Ethan: Kat and Ethan become lab partners early on in the show before starting a relationship that ended not with a bang, but a whimper.
What’s up with Austin: Before he was cast in Euphoria, Ethan played Ron Anderson on The Walking Dead. In summer 2019, he appeared in Guillermo del Toro’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.
Chloe Cherry as Faye
Age in real life: 24
Age in the show: 16 to 30, according to her
What’s up with Faye: Faye is the hypocritical heroin addict dating Custer, a Fez-tangential drug dealer. She moves in with Fezco and befriends him while delivering punchy one-liners like, “I bet you’re eating that ginger’s ass for oxys.â€
What’s up with Chloe: Chloe moved to L.A. at 18 to start a lucrative adult-film career. She became an Instagram personality @perfect_angelgirl before getting cast on Euphoria, her largest acting role to date.
Dominic Fike as Elliot
Age in real life: 26
Age in the show: Likely 17 or 18
What’s up with Elliot: When he’s not playing mind games with Rue and Jules, Elliot is playing guitar, doing lines, or using his admittedly adorable exterior to stave off the fact that he might be the downfall of Rules.
What’s up with Dominic: This Filipino American musician is single-handedly carrying Euphoria’s Asian representation. His breakout hit “3 Nights†reached the top ten charts in several countries. He’s also collaborated with artists like Halsey and Brockhampton and is currently dating Hunter Schafer on the side.Â
Javon Walton as Ashtray
Age in real life: 15Â
Age in the show: 13 to 15
What’s up with Ashtray: This baby-faced killer is Fezco’s partner in crime. He was taken in by Fezco’s grandma, Marie O’Neill, who named him Ashtray after he tried to eat her cigarettes. Cute. In season two, he continues helping Fez dodge the authorities and develops a strong and reasonable suspicion of Faye.
What’s up with Javon: Javon is a certifiable badass and highly trained boxer who started the sport at the age of 4. In 2017, he appeared on The Steve Harvey Show where he wowed audiences by doing a handstand on Harvey’s desk. He also starred in an Under Armour commercial with the Rock himself.
This post has been updated throughout.
More From This Series
- Euphoria Season 3 Is Finally Happening
- Sam Levinson’s Most Powerful Ally Is Over It
- Kendrick Lamar Is Winning the Beef on the Charts