Rising star Kelvin Harrison Jr., known for Waves and Monster, was gearing up for a role in Euphoria season 2, but his schedule as one of the most in-demand Hollywood actors has caused him to pull out of a role that was receiving quite a bit of buzz. Entertainment Weekly first reported the news, merely attributing this as a scheduling conflict.
When the story first surfaced of Harrison’s rumored attachment to the second season, it was said that his involvement in the HBO series was contingent upon the schedule of Zendaya, whose availability would determine when Euphoria would resume production. Naturally, the series was in early production before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic shutdowns widely affected Hollywood productions.
Harrison, as originally reported by Shadow and Act, spoke about joining the show when he was doing press for The High Note. Bad then he said, “I really love the world. I love the way Sam Levinson [Euphoria’s creator and showrunner] articulates the experiences of young people and mental health, and how he embraces individuality. I just love the dialogue around the show, [and as] a person of color that happens to be African American, and to enter the space alongside Zendaya and Hunter Schaffer, and Barbie [Ferreria] and Alexa [Demie], etc. really excites me. And to be a male, a Black man as well, it’s exciting to me. [Seeing] how we can explore some of these same ideas and concepts and how we fit into this, into that world, has been exciting.”
“I know Algee [Smith] is on the show and I’m just [excited] to that narrative,” he continued. “So, it’s been really wonderful. Sam is a great collaborator and we’ve had a lot of beautiful conversations about what we want to do with the character and what we see and how we feel. And he’s just very playful and it feels proper. [This is what] proper art is supposed to be like when you’re in this phase of it. And the pandemic has only given us more time to really sink our teeth into it, to make sure that it’s actually provocative.”
