A lot has happened off screen between seasons two and three of the hit television series Euphoria, as season three premieres today on HBO Max.

It’s been a long and messy road to season three.

Many stars rose to become household names after Euphoria first hit television screens in 2022 including Zendaya and Sydney Sweeney, with Australian actor Jacob Elordi being nominated for an Oscar.

Fights, sex, deaths and glitter: The rocky road to Euphoria season three

Sam Levinson’s controversial teen series has had to overcome four years of actor deaths, character departures and on-set tension to make it to season three.

But actor Eric Dane died in February, meaning some of his last scenes will be in season three, while Angus Cloud died from an accidental drug overdose in 2023. He was 25.

Creator, executive producer, writer and director Sam Levinson, deeply affected by Cloud’s passing, says the new season became his way to honour him and the 70,000 lives in America cut short by fentanyl in 2023. 

Former NFL player turned actor Marshawn Lynch, who is from Oakland, California, like Zendaya and Cloud, says before he died, the latter encouraged Bay Area rapper C5 to write a song about him.

The song, named after Lynch, was a way for him to be given his flowers while he’s still here.

Angus Cloud in character as Fezco wearing a white t-shirt and gold chain, leaning on a wall

Angus Cloud died from an accidental drug overdose. (Supplied: HBO)

Lynch says Cloud was a big part of the reason he said yes to Euphoria.

“That was like a huge deciding factor for me when this opportunity came about,” Lynch said.

“It’s an opportunity for me to keep that Oakland legacy thing going within the biggest show in the mother******* world.”

Marshawn Lynch with long braided hair, side profile, sitting at a bar

Former NFL Player turned actor Marshawn Lynch says fellow Bay Area native Angus Cloud was a big reason why he decided to sign onto Euphoria. (Supplied: HBO)

Lynch is in good company as a new star joining in the third season. 

Many other regulars and guest stars make their first appearance in the show in season three including Sharon Stone, Natasha Lyonne, and musician Rosalía.

Season three jumps forward five years, with the main characters now in their 20s and navigating life outside high school.

Rue (Zendaya) finds herself in Texas after crossing the border from a drug run in Mexico.

She eats with a rural Christian family at their barn and is in awe with how happy they are. This sparks something in her as she tries to figure out the purpose and meaning of life.

Lynch plays G, who is an enforcer for Alamo (Adewale Akinnouye-Agbaje) who owns five strip clubs and who Rue develops a close kinship with.

Akinnouye-Agbaje says Rue and Alamo have somewhat of a mentor-disciple relationship.

“She sees his world as freedom,” Akinnouye-Agbaje said.

“It’s glamorous, it’s girls, it’s gold guns, it’s [a] man in a hot tub with beautiful exotic women in a big mansion on top of a hill overlooking everybody.”

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje in character as Alamo dressed in a cowboy hat sitting down with arms out wide

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje plays modern day cowboy Alamo. (Supplied: HBO)

But the audience can expect reality to set in as season three unfolds.

“As the season progresses, we see the depths of the darkness of Alamo’s world and how Rue becomes entangled in that and whether she’s able to extricate herself, [and] achieve what she’s trying to find or not,” Akinnouye-Agbaje says.

Alamo dresses and acts like a modern-day cowboy.

Akinnouye-Agbaje says as a young kid in England, he grew up on a lot of characters from classic westerns which he drew from for the role. 

He also researched cowboy culture and where the word came from.

“A lot of people didn’t realise that post-slavery, slaves were just called boy and those slaves that then had freedom that tended to cows were called cowboys,” Akinnouye-Agbaje says.

“And so, it was seen as a derogatory term before Hollywood had made it cult and popular.”

Akinnouye-Agbaje felt like Alamo had come from that culture and had pulled himself up by the bootstraps.

“There’s this regalness that he’s almost an emperor in his empire that has achieved what he feels the American dream [is],” Akinnouye-Agbaje says.

Alamo’s other enforcer is Bishop (Darrell Britt-Gibson).

Darrell Britt-Gibson as Bishop sitting down with hand on side of face and under chin

Darrell Britt-Gibson plays Bishop, one of Alamo’s enforcers, who has a razor-sharp focus. (Supplied: HBO)

Bishop isn’t distracted by the women in the strip club and has a shrewd focus.

“A distraction is an excuse for [not] getting a job done,” Britt-Gibson said.

He says the idea of black cowboys is an interesting space to play in.

“It tends to get scrubbed out of history sometimes and so being able to really play in that space with that sort of motif, it’s a very beautiful thing to experience”

Euphoria Season 3 is streaming on HBO Max.