Sam Levinson didn’t exactly stumble onto Chloe Cherry through traditional Hollywood channels. The casting director for Euphoria’s second season found her Instagram account while specifically searching for someone who could bring an authentic edge to Faye. Not just someone who could act authentic—someone who actually was.
Here’s what actually went down, based on multiple interviews with Cherry, Levinson, and the casting team over the past two years.
The Initial Contact That Almost Didn’t Happen
Cherry got a DM in early 2021 that she almost ignored. It looked sketchy at first. Some account claiming to be from HBO wanting her to audition for a major show. She’d been in adult films for three years at that point, and random DMs promising big opportunities? Yeah, she’d seen that play before.
But something made her actually check if the account was verified. It was. And when she Googled the casting director’s name attached to the message, everything checked out.
The weird part? They specifically wanted her to audition as herself, essentially. No headshots, no résumé, no acting reel. They wanted a self-tape where she just talked about her life and read a few lines from a scene.
What Made Her Stand Out From 200+ Other Auditions
Levinson had already seen roughly 200 actresses for Faye by the time Cherry’s tape landed on his desk. Professional actresses with agents and training and extensive résumés. But none of them had what he was looking for.
He wanted someone who understood survival on society’s margins. Not someone who’d studied that in an acting class or researched it for a role. Someone who’d actually lived adjacent to that world.
Cherry’s tape was apparently only three minutes long. She talked about moving from Pennsylvania to LA at 18, working in the adult industry, and what she’d learned about people in survival mode. Then she read the scene where Faye meets Rue for the first time. According to the casting director, Levinson watched it twice and said “That’s her” before it finished the second time.
The authenticity wasn’t just in her delivery. It was in the way she carried herself, the specific vocabulary she used, the way she didn’t over-explain anything. You can’t fake that kind of presence.
The Callback That Wasn’t Really a Callback
Most TV shows do multiple auditions. First tape, callback, chemistry read, maybe a producer session. Cherry did one tape and then got a phone call offering her the role two weeks later.
No callback. No screen test. Just an offer.
She thought it was another scam at first. People don’t just hand out roles on HBO shows after one audition to someone with zero traditional acting experience. Except apparently sometimes they do when you’re exactly what they’ve been searching for.
The offer came with some specific conditions, though. She’d need to be in LA for filming starting in about six weeks. She’d need to commit to the full season without knowing exactly how many episodes Faye would appear in. And she’d need to work with an acting coach HBO would provide to help her adjust to the technical side of TV production.
Why Levinson Took The Risk
Casting someone with no traditional acting experience for a significant recurring role is a gamble. HBO could’ve easily pushed back and insisted on a safer choice. But Levinson had a specific vision for Faye that required someone who understood the character’s world intrinsically.
He’s talked about this in a few interviews since season two aired. He didn’t want Faye to feel like a writer’s idea of a strung-out girlfriend. He wanted her to feel like someone you’d actually meet in that situation. Someone with her own logic, her own survival mechanisms, her own way of seeing the world.
Cherry brought all of that without trying. She wasn’t performing those qualities. She just had them.
Plus, Levinson had done something similar before with other Euphoria cast members. He’s always been more interested in authentic presence than traditional training. Look at how many of the show’s actors were relatively unknown before landing their roles.
The Preparation She Actually Got
That acting coach HBO provided? Cherry worked with her for about four weeks before filming started. But it wasn’t traditional acting lessons. It was mostly technical stuff. Hitting marks, understanding camera angles, learning how to modulate for the camera versus stage, dealing with multiple takes.
The actual character work, according to Cherry, was pretty minimal. Levinson didn’t want her to overthink it. He didn’t want her creating some elaborate backstory or doing method acting exercises. He basically told her to trust her instincts and react honestly to whatever was happening in the scene.
She’s mentioned in interviews that this approach freaked her out initially. She kept waiting for someone to give her more direction, more guidance, more acting technique. But Levinson’s style is apparently pretty hands-off when he knows he’s cast the right person. He’d rather have authentic uncertainty than polished artificiality.
What Actually Happened On Set
Cherry’s first day filming was the motel scene where Faye appears with Custer. She was terrified. Not just normal first-day nerves. Genuine terror that she’d completely bomb and confirm everyone’s suspicions that casting her was a mistake.
But something clicked once the cameras started rolling. She stopped thinking about “acting” and just existed in the scene. Levinson apparently didn’t give her much direction beyond the basics of the scene’s blocking. Just let her find Faye naturally.
The cast helped too. She’s talked about how welcoming everyone was, especially considering she was the new person with the unconventional background. No one treated her like a novelty or a risk. They just treated her like another actor doing a job.
By her third or fourth day on set, she wasn’t thinking about the weirdness of the situation anymore. She was just working.
Why This Casting Actually Worked
You can debate whether Cherry’s performance in season two was technically proficient by traditional acting standards. But you can’t debate whether it felt real. Faye felt like a real person, not a character.
That’s exactly what Levinson was gambling on. He bet that authentic presence would matter more than technical skill. And for this particular role, in this particular show, he was right.
Cherry’s casting also opened up conversations about different pathways into mainstream entertainment. You don’t have to follow the traditional route of drama school and years of auditions and slowly climbing the ladder. Sometimes the right person for the role comes from somewhere completely unexpected.
The whole situation proves what a lot of casting directors already know but don’t always get to act on. Sometimes the best person for the job isn’t the most qualified on paper. Sometimes it’s the person who just is that character without trying.
