Euphoria star Angus Cloud on Fez's 'insane' origin story, and the 'scary' part of getting revenge

Warning: This article contains spoilers about the season 2 premiere of Euphoria, "Trying to Get to Heaven Before They Close the Door."

Even if Euphoria star Angus Cloud shares the same laid back demeanor as his fan favorite character Fezco, his first ever acting role has still been a challenge.

"A lot of people say, 'Oh, it must be so easy. You get to play yourself on TV,'" the breakout tells EW. "I'm like 'Yeah, I guess, but you try to get up in front of a 30-40 person team, a hundred extras and two huge, million dollar cameras and act natural.' It's not as easy as it sounds."

The 23-year-old continues to be a natural though, with the highly-anticipated season 2 premiere of HBO's Emmy-winning teen drama spotlighting his performance as a drug dealer with a heart of gold.

Read on to hear how Cloud reacted to his character's backstory, why he thinks Fez hasn't cut off Rue yet, and what part of getting revenge on Nate made him feel bad.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: The season 2 premiere finally gives us Fezco's origin story. How long have you known all these details about your character? Like his grandma (Kathrine Narducci) being a drug queenpin, how they adopted Ashtray (Javon 'Wanna' Walton), etc.?

ANGUS CLOUD: I mean, when we first got the script for season 2, which was right as COVID was starting.

So you've been learning more about Fez with each script? Or did creator Sam Levinson ever pull you to the side and be like, "Just so you know, we're not gonna hit it yet, but this is everything that's happened to Fez leading up to when the show starts?

No, he never mentioned it to me personally until everyone saw the script.

So it was a fun surprise, seeing that Fez's story was kicking off the new season?

Yeah, man. That was super cool for sure. I was stoked to see the past, the little mini me.

Did you get to meet the actor that was playing the young Fez (Mason Shea Joyce)?

Yeah, I did. We got a selfie and everything. He was super cool.

Also, did you expect that to be what Fez's grandmother was like before she got sick?

I had some ideas, but no, I didn't. I didn't imagine what Sam imagined [Laughs].

So your reaction to seeing the script and seeing them shoot it was like, "Whoa, this is wild."

Yeah, it definitely blew my mind. I mean, that opening sequence — am I allowed to cuss? — is f---ing insane.

Getting deeper into the episode, season 1 ended on a cliffhanger where the menacing drug dealer Mouse showed up to Fez and Ashtray's house to confront them about being raided. What was your reaction to seeing how the season 2 premiere swiftly wraps that plot up?

It was a shock reading it for sure. And I was sad because I love Meeko Gattuso. He plays Mouse, and he's just the best. I love working with him. He's hilarious, and just an all around good guy, so I was sad to see him go, man. But I was like, "F---," when something so serious just happens so quickly, in a second, that's how it happens in real life. And it's just like, "Holy s---," seeing that play out. Because in real life people don't have that much time to think, and so that's kind of what the viewer gets to experience, just how fast a situation like that goes down. Not too much thought put behind it.

We meet a new set of drug dealers, led by Laurie (Martha Kelly), that seem even scarier. Were filming those scenes with the new characters as intense as they looked?

Yeah, we were filming those scenes for three or four days, and it was definitely an intense vibe in the room. [Though] it was super fun in between takes, we were cracking up. It was a good time, but at the same time we were all kind of like, "Holy f---, this is gonna look crazy!" We could all feel like we were doing something very cool. And then when we got to look at it, we were like, "Oh yeah, man. We came, we saw, we conquered." Yeah, that s---'s crazy.

One scene from season 1 that gets posted on social media all the time in reverence is the scene from the show's third episode where Fez refuses to give Rue (Zendaya) drugs, and she lashes out at him. What has it been like seeing how much that moment struck a chord with audiences?

It's that thing of if you really love something, sometimes you gotta let it go. And it's like, "I'm sorry. I love you too much to be a part of you ruining your life." And I think he almost says that, like "I'm not gonna help you kill yourself." And I think a lot of people can [relate], even if they haven't had to cut someone off in their own life. The other part of it is just how Zendaya, her reaction of begging him, and then it just turns to like this instant hatred of the person, it's really a great depiction of addiction. It changes a person, and the things that they love and care about. It all gets taken away by this addiction. The drugs are more important than anything else they love and care about. It's more important than their families. It's more important than their own life.

[That scene] was a really great depiction of that. And then from my side, it's like "F---!" As Fezco, I really wanted to let her in because how can I leave my sister out there in the street? I wanted to let her in so bad, but I just had to put my foot down and say, "I can't anymore." Because Fezco feels partly responsible for her getting so deep into that addiction, and supplying her addiction, so it was a really hard moment for Fezco to finally say, "No, I'm not gonna help. I'm not gonna sell you drugs anymore, Rue. Even though I care about you so much, and I don't wanna leave you out on the street, the only way I can think of to help you is by not helping you at all."

We see in this premiere however that Fez still hangs out with Rue despite her having relapsed. Do you think that maybe shows how much he thinks of her as family? That he's not able to quit her?

Well, yeah. I mean, it's definitely like in real life, the show depicts real life in a very good way. But outside of the show, some people, families of addicts, they can only handle so much. And until that person changes their whole life around, they won't accept them back into their own lives, just because they have to watch out for their own emotional wellbeing. And they're tired of trying to help this person, and listening to promises being broken over and over again. So they have to completely set them out of their lives. But with Fezco, he has more of a deeper understanding and a different perspective.

He knows that with Rue, she's not gonna stop until she decides that she wants to, or that she needs to. An addict can only quit for themselves. If they're trying to get long term sobriety, it's not gonna happen if they're doing it for someone else. You have to do it for yourself. And so Fez realizes that she's not at that point, and that the best he can do is just be there for her, and try to protect her, and just be there whenever she needs help. He's not just gonna cut her off completely. That's his family, and he's gonna be there no matter what.

Later in the premiere, Fez seems to hit it off with Lexi (Maude Apatow). Do you think that they would be a good match? Why do you think they may be interested in each other?

Well, I don't know. I think that they come from very different worlds, and that's somewhat universally an attractive thing, when someone comes from such a different world and has such different experiences than someone else. It's just new, and it's interesting.

The premiere ends with viewers seeing this shift in Fez, from having such a fun conversation with Lexi, to him getting back at Nate (Jacob Elordi) for having his house raided. Were you happy to see that Fez did finally get his revenge?

Nate deserved all of what he got [Laughs]. Yeah, that was a good one. That was good to see in the script.

What was it like shooting that fight scene?

Shooting it was hard. It was a lot of physical stunt movements. And yeah, I felt bad hitting him in the head with that bottle that I had. We must have had to break six or seven bottles, and [Jacob] was acting like it didn't hurt, but I knew it did. I'm like, "Oh, damn! I'm sorry, bro [Laughs]. I can't smash the bottle on your head any lighter, you know?"

It felt bad for you, but it felt good for Fez.

Yeah, definitely. Yeah. And then when I'm doing those scenes, I'm always scared that I'm gonna accidentally actually hit them in the face, because you can't throw a half-ass punch. It doesn't read well on camera. So your punch has to be pretty strong, it just has to miss. So if you accidentally hit the person, that s---'s gonna hurt. If I accidentally went a little too far and didn't cut short, I could've broken his nose. So it's scary, it's a little fear factor.

And Ashtray, love him. Well it was nice to see more Fez so far this season. And Ashtray, I love Ashtray.

Yes! Shout out my little brother Javon, man. He's the best.

This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.

Related content:

• Euphoria stars Zendaya, Hunter Schafer, and Dominic Fike tease a 'murky,' 'messy' season 2
• Rue grapples with love lost and sobriety in Euphoria season 2 trailer
• Here's what could have happened to Rue and Fez in Euphoria's season finale

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