When Euphoria creator Sam Levinson wanted Minka Kelly to sign up to play Samantha, a glamorous woman who Maddy (Alexa Demie) befriends, as she babysits her son, she had no idea what she was getting herself into.
“It was actually so vague,” she said of her part. Despite having no details, the Friday Night Lights star accepted the offer.
“After our first day working together, [show creator Levinson] said, ‘I want you to be the older, wiser version of [Maddy],’” she recalled. “I was like, ‘Yes, please! I love that. I see so much of myself in this girl.’”
“I was like, ‘Sam Levinson knows who I am?’” she continued. “To be invited on one of your favorite shows is such a surreal thing.”
Kelly was only supposed to be on one episode, but after seeing her chemistry with Demie, he rewrote new dialogue between the two of them, including one scene in episode 6 where the two ladies bond over their high school experiences.
During the chat, Maddy tells Samantha that her best friend Cassie (Sydney Sweeney) has been seeing her ex-boyfriend Nate (Jacob Elordi) behind her back. Unfortunately, Samantha admits that she was Cassie when she was younger and now she no longer speaks to her best friend.
During the scene in which Maddy and Samantha are in the pool, Kelly admits the water was “freezing.”
“Every time they yelled, ‘Cut!’ I was shivering again,” she shared, adding that between takes, she would get shot with warm water. “[Alexa] was so sweet, making sure that I stayed warm. She was just so considerate.”
For her part, the young starlet had a blast collaborating with Kelly.
“It honestly was so nice to work with her. She’s so kind and grounded and smart, and she’s very present and she’s a good listener, which is what I think her character also needed to be for Maddy,” she said. “When they’re having their heart to hearts, she’s really listening to Maddy and she’s really guiding her. And so that just felt very serene, and Maddy hasn’t had a lot of serene moments, so it felt different than anything she’s ever experienced for sure. It gave her a bit of light and hope.”
