Actress and model Hunter Schafer has always been open about — and proud of! — her identity as a transgender woman. But there were parts of her transition that she had long put behind her. That is, until she starred in Euphoria.
In her cover story for V magazine, Hunter discussed how, while she was transitioning as a teenager, it was important for her not to stop and dwell on everything that was happening. She explained,
“Part of surviving [that] experience was just, like, getting through shit. Letting it rest, and not addressing it. I think that’s what I had been [doing] up to that point: just going and going, fighting to be on the other side of my transition. There was so much that I was working towards, and I was so excited to [be out of] North Carolina that I don’t think I’d ever looked back on [that experience].”
Of course, Euphoria forced her to revisit parts of her transition, as her character Jules is going through the same thing herself as a young trans girl. Hunter said,
“I was like, ‘Oh shit.’ And remembering things that I hadn’t thought about until [that point]. That happened throughout the entire season: As we worked through different scenes, I’d have to remember a new detail, to dig up an artifact from within myself, and hold onto that moment for the scene.”
Luckily, she found the whole process therapeutic and that using Jules “as a pathway” was helpful.
Prior to filming the show, Hunter was a model in New York and actually had no intention to go into acting.
“My original plan was to model in order to support my visual art. At that point, I thought, Damn, I wish I could be making money off of [my art] because it’s all I want to do. But then I got swept up in [acting], which is wild: I went to an arts high school, and was always focused on visual arts; [performing] was this exciting and tantalizing activity. Now it’s the opposite; I am monetizing performing. It’s wild!”
She didn’t even audition for the show until they called her manager and asked her to come in. Hunter obviously nailed the audition and the rest is history!
Euphoria has already been renewed for season 2 by HBO. There’s no word yet when it will drop but Hunter’s co-star Storm Reid says the cast will start filming in a few weeks. Hopefully, that means we’ll be able to watch season 2 next summer!
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