With HBO's gritty teen drama 'Euphoria,' stars Zendaya and Hunter Schafer aren't afraid to raise eyebrows
LOS ANGELES - "Nobody is getting their head cut off," Zendaya says. She's referring to the hubbub over her latest project: "Euphoria," HBO's unflinching portrait of teen life.
It's true. There aren't the beheadings viewers came to expect from "Game of Thrones." But that doesn't mean the new HBO drama isn't raising eyebrows.
The first episode includes a drug overdose, an unsettling statutory rape scene, and a sexual encounter involving unsolicited choking. "Euphoria" spurred controversy ahead of its Sunday premiere for its gritty use of sex, drugs, and nudity to illustrate the grown-up situations Generation Z must navigate.
While such mature content has become a hallmark of HBO, adding teen characters to the mix has provoked criticism.
Inside the energetic Crossroads restaurant on Melrose Avenue, Zendaya and her costar, Hunter Schafer, are deep in discussion about the need for a dark, uncensored exploration on teen life - an antidote to the
