Zendaya, who plays Rue Bennett in Euphoria, has discussed her hopes for the character after the conclusion to season two.
In the second season, Rue’s journey to combat drug addiction took a dark turn as she relapsed and was subjected to a particularly emotional intervention. After the finale, however, her prospects looked more positive (her voiceover revealed she had stayed clean for the rest of the school year).
Speaking about Rue’s path to Entertainment Tonight, Zendaya expressed hope her character’s redemption in season three.
“There’s a dark place that hits right in the middle of the season,” Zendaya said. “And it was painful for everyone involved with making it. I know it was painful for me and I think it got to the point of, ‘We can’t leave her here. This can’t be the end of her story. There has to be some hope at the end of this. Something beautiful at the end of all this pain.’
“I think that’s what we need. I think that’s what the world needs. So, if you can hold onto that, if you can bear with her through those painful moments, if you can still root for her, then maybe there is some hope at the end.”
Halfway through the season Zendaya shared a message on Instagram to reinforce a possible redemption arc for Rue.
“I think in this show, and this season more specifically, she hits rock bottom,” Zendaya wrote. “It’s my hope for people watching that they still see her as a person worthy of their love. And worthy of their time, and that she has a redemptive quality still, and that we still see the good in her even if she can’t see it in herself.”
In NME’s five-star review, Euphoria’s second season is described as “darker, tougher and more intense than ever” and one that’s “already setting the bar very high for TV in 2022”.
Along with Zendaya, Dominic Fike recently confirmed that he’ll return as Elliot in the show’s third season.
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