Why ‘Euphoria’ Star Minka Kelly Asked the Show Creator to Cut Her Nude Scene
Minka Kelly, a new addition to Euphoria, recently opened up about a nude scene she did not feel comfortable shooting during her first day on set.
In Season 2 Kelly plays Samantha, a mother who brings on Maddy Perez (Alexa Demie) as a babysitter. She's new to the series, but has already made a splash in several scenes.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, the Euphoria newcomer revealed that one scene could have been more risqué than what ended up airing.
In her first episode, Samantha asks Maddy to help unzip her dress when she gets home. Director Sam Levinson reportedly wanted the character's purple sequined gown to fall completely off, leaving the star nude.
Kelly told the publication that she was not a fan of the idea.
“That was my first day as a guest on this new show, and I just didn’t feel comfortable standing there naked,” she explained.
She added that she voiced her concerns, and Levinson was receptive to changing things up. “I said, ‘I’d love to do this scene, but I think we can keep my dress on,’” she said. “He was like, ‘Okay!’ He didn’t even hesitate. And he shot a beautiful scene and got exactly what he wanted.”
Watch the scene as it appeared on the show below. It takes place around the 3:00 mark:
The actress had nothing but positive things to say about working with Levinson, who allegedly wrote the character of Samantha with her in mind.
However, Kelly isn't the only star who has commented on having nude scenes in Euphoria. In fact, several actresses have addressed the nudity in the show in various interviews.
Sydney Sweeney told the Independent that she felt no one took her seriously on the show because she has appeared topless. "I'm very proud of my work on Euphoria," she said. "But no one talks about it because I got naked."
The actor noted that her nude scenes sometimes appear on social media, and that people have tagged her brother in them.
She told the publication that at times she's pushed back against taking her clothes off and had a similar experience with Levinson.
“There are moments where [my character] Cassie was supposed to be shirtless and I would tell Sam, ‘I don’t really think that’s necessary here,’” she said in the interview, according to Deadline. “He was like, ‘OK, we don’t need it.’”
In a follow-up interview with the Washington Post, Sweeney assured concerned fans that she felt "totally fine" on set. Seventeen also noted that she said she had never felt "pressured" to take her clothes off.
Vanity Fair pointed out that Chloe Cherry and Demie have also addressed being naked on Euphoria.
Meanwhile, in a 2019 interview with The Hollywood Reporter Levinson stressed the importance of having an intimacy coordinator on set to help address these situations. He added that he would never hold an actor to a scene they weren't comfortable shooting.
"If an actor doesn’t feel comfortable doing something, no matter what they agreed to do before, they have the right to not do it," he stressed.