Why Chloe Cherry Thinks Sam Levinson Is ‘Too Much’ for Some Actors to Handle

Sam Levinson has long occupied a peculiar space in prestige television, one where admiration and unease tend to arrive in equal measure. The creator and director of ‘Euphoria’ has built a reputation as a fiercely singular storyteller, someone whose HBO drama became one of the most visually distinctive and culturally debated shows of its era.

That reputation has carried real weight for the people who work alongside him. Throughout the show’s run, reports emerged of certain cast members expressing discomfort with creative demands on set, particularly around the level of nudity required in various scenes. Multiple actresses, including Cherry herself in an earlier season, pushed back on specific scene requests, with at least one co-star stepping in to voice concern on their behalf.

The latest person to speak openly about that dynamic is Cherry, who plays deadpan fan-favorite Faye Valentine and has been part of the ‘Euphoria‘ world since the second season. In a new sit-down with Glamour, the actress confirmed she would return for a potential fourth season and then turned to address the controversy surrounding Levinson directly, making clear she is aware that many in the industry do not share her enthusiasm for working with him.

Speaking to Glamour, Cherry pointed to Levinson’s total command over every creative decision as the likely source of friction, from the way he dictates how characters dress and speak to his tendency to overhaul ideas without notice in the middle of a shoot. For Cherry, who was originally discovered by Levinson through her social media presence, those same qualities are precisely what she values in him as a director, describing herself as a performer whose instincts align naturally with the way he works.

Cherry is not the only cast member to push back against the more negative accounts of Levinson. Colman Domingo said in 2023 that he believed the controversy had been significantly amplified, pointing to the show’s cultural prominence as the real engine of scrutiny rather than any genuine dysfunction behind the camera.

The backdrop to all of this includes a report from The Hollywood Reporter alleging that Zendaya and Levinson’s friendship had “cooled” during the show’s extended hiatus, with sources pointing to resentment developing on his part as she distanced herself from their creative partnership. Neither party publicly addressed those claims. Barbie Ferreira, who played Kat in the show’s first two seasons, also departed before the third amid circumstances widely reported as strained, though she maintained at the time that her exit was a mutual decision.

Cherry also used the Glamour conversation to defend the show’s portrayal of women in the current season, arguing that Levinson is not endorsing the way society reduces young women to their appearance but is instead using his characters to hold that reality up for examination. With ‘Euphoria’ now heading toward what is widely expected to be its final chapter, the question of what Levinson’s creative process truly feels like for those inside it has never been more pointed.

Does Cherry’s defense shift how you see the ongoing debate around Sam Levinson, or do you think the pattern of reported friction across multiple productions is too consistent to explain away?