'Euphoria' season 3 pays tribute to Angus Cloud

Euphoria season 3 has paid tribute to late Angus Cloud.

At the screening of the finale in NYC, the HBO series' creator Sam Levinson dedicated his opening remarks to the late actor.

Cloud, who played drug dealer Fezco in the series died in real life from accidental overdose on July 31, 2023 at the age of 25.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Levinson said, "Moments like these are rare. This season we lost Angus. Many of you loved him the way I did. He deserved more time, a longer, fuller life."

"But he was taken, like far too many people in this country, by fentanyl," he added.

While the season 3 premiere opened with a tribute to Eric Dane, who played Nate’s father, Cal, and died in February after battling ALS, Cloud received a tribute in the series.

As Fez was serving 30-year prison sentence, throughout the season three he remained a presence despite not appearing on screen. However, in the finale Rue, played by Zendaya saw report claiming that Fez has escaped prison. When she sets out to find him, an unseen clip of Fez and Rue standing in the field also appeared on screen.

With Fezco living on in the series, Sam Levinson explained, "Angus didn’t make it in real life, so at least in the made-up world of Euphoria, he’s still alive."

Previously, Levinson reflected on the impact of Angus Cloud's death on him and the series, saying, "I loved Angus very deeply and I fought very hard to keep him clean while he was here. I think when he passed away, it made me sort of step back and go, what is the story I want to tell, what is it I want to say? What matters in life?"

"And if I was going to do another season, I wanted to make sure that it spoke to a larger idea about meaning and purpose and who we are. It made me want to tackle the idea of faith and belief in something greater than ourselves," he added at the premiere of Euphoria season three in Los Angeles.