Zendaya Responds to Criticism That She’s Not in ‘Euphoria’ Season 2 Enough

Euphoria season 2’s critics have been addressed by Rue Bennett’s Zendaya.

Since returning to our screens, this dark high school drama’s apparent obsession with the male anatomy and reliance on shock value has dominated much of the conversation, yet many fans believe Zendaya’s drug-addict protagonist is absent far too often.

But the star has her own theory on that.

“It was important for certain characters who we didn’t really get to see much of last season having more time to get to know them and explore their characters,” the actress told Entertainment Weekly of the controversy.

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Related: Euphoria‘s future confirmed by HBO beyond season 2

“But it’s kind of also Rue as an unreliable narrator, in the sense that she’s just trying to skate by without people noticing that she’s doing what she’s doing, and trying not to get caught.”

The sophomore season’s fifth episode ‘Stand Still Like the Hummingbird’ goes some way to alleviating those viewer concerns.

“We don’t ever leave Rue and what she’s dealing with,” Zendaya commented. “We’re with her the whole time. There’s not much internal dialogue, and unlike the other episodes where there’s always an opening, ours just kind of starts immediately with violence. We just jump right into it.

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Related: Netflix’s All of Us Are Dead is Euphoria meets Train to Busan

“I think we always knew that that would take up an entire episode and thus, once you hit that point, you have to, after that, pick up the pieces of what happens from there, and where Rue goes.”

Despite her character’s implosions, the Dune cast member remains optimistic, as she added: “I think if we can still care about her after this, then I hope that other people can extend that to non-fictional characters, to real people, or just be a little bit more understanding and empathetic over the experience of addiction and what it does to people, what it does to their families.”