Kelvin Harrison Jr. Drops Out of Euphoria Season 2

Last year, it was announced that The Trial of the Chicago 7 star Kelvin Harrison Jr. would be joining the cast of HBO’s Euphoria for its second season. However, before production could get underway the COVID-19 pandemic hit, shutting down the entertainment industry. With the industry coming back to life, work has finally begun on the critically-acclaimed series’ eagerly-anticipated second season, but now the season is moving forward without Harrison. In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, it was revealed that due to schedule conflicts, Harrison has had to exit Euphoria Season 2.

Created and written by Sam Levinson, Euphoria follows a group of high school students through their experiences of sex, drugs, friendships, love, identity, and trauma. The series stars Spider-Man: No Way Home star Zendaya, Maude Apatow, Eric Dane, Alexa Demie, Jacob Elordi, Barbie Ferreira, Storm Reid, Hunter Schafer, Algee Smith, Sydney Sweeney, and Colman Domingo. On Wednesday, Zendaya celebrated returning to work on the series on her Instagram Stories, sharing photos of her co-stars and various crew members.

As for who Harrison would have played on Euphoria, that is unclear. Last May in an interview with Teen Vogue, Harrison offered no specific details but said that the character was something he’d never seen before.

“I can almost argue that it has not been done,” Harrison said at the time. “It’s interesting, it is definitely a character of the time, and that’s all I got. He’s interesting.”

As for Harrison’s other projects, his new film Monster is now streaming on Netflix. The film first premiered at Sundance Film Festival back in 2018 and Harrison told Entertainment Weekly the film was something of a turning point for him in retrospect, describing the film as being where he was supposed to be.

“I never intended to be an actor,” Harrison said. “I think I ended up doing it because that’s where I was making the most money. And I was like, let’s go for it. As I was learning who I was in that space, because I do think I was supposed to be one, it was like I wasn’t necessarily looking for it, but that’s where I was supposed to be.”

The first season of Euphoria as well as two “special episodes”, Euphoria Special Episode Part 1: Rue and Euphoria Special Episode Part 2: Jules, are now streaming on HBO Max.

Photo: Rich Polk/Getty Images for IMDb