{"id":111345,"date":"2026-04-15T11:14:51","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T11:14:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/?post_type=articles&p=111345"},"modified":"2026-04-15T11:14:51","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T11:14:51","slug":"maude-apatow-interview-euphoria-grazia-spring-summer-2026","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/maude-apatow-interview-euphoria-grazia-spring-summer-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Maude Apatow’s Moment"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Maude
Maude Apatow; Max Mara top, sweater, sunglasses, us.maxmara.com.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Words by Hattie Brett<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

We\u2019re still a month away from the third and final season of Euphoria<\/i> hitting our screens in April, but the internet is awash with theories about how the cult TV show will end, from the tantalizing (Nate will leave Cassie and reunite with Jules) to the tragic (Rue will die). If fans are desperate to discover the fate of the East Highland High alumni, for cast members the finale will be bittersweet. \u201cI can\u2019t even think about it. It will make me too sad,\u201d Maude Apatow says, shaking her head almost in disbelief that the series she\u2019s been working on for the past eight years is wrapping up. \u201cI\u2019ve been working on Euphoria<\/em> since I was 20, and I\u2019m about to be 28. We\u2019ve learned so much and we\u2019ve been through so much together, so coming back this last season has been very emotional.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s been four years since the cast were last on set together. Naturally, that has necessitated a time jump in the Euphoria<\/i> narrative. When we meet, Apatow is on a brief break from filming to attend Milan Fashion Week with Max Mara and won\u2019t be drawn on details of the new Euphoria<\/i> plot, but she does say she believes they\u2019re \u201cfinishing strong.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What we do know is that season 3 picks up with the characters post education, as they start their working lives as young adults, trying to figure out their paths in life. The show\u2019s creator, Sam Levinson, has talked about wanting to open up the Euphoria<\/i> universe \u2014 so we get to see these characters beyond the microcosm of high school and making their way out in the real world.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The cast is like family. We\u2019ve been through high highs and low lows.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Apatow\u2019s character, Lexi \u2014 who was arguably always the most sane, stable, and likeable of the show\u2019s troubled teens \u2014 has channeled her talent for script writing (who can forget that<\/i> school play scene?) into a career in entertainment, now an assistant to a bigwig Hollywood show runner, who thrillingly will be played by Sharon Stone.<\/p>\n

For Apatow, though, it was returning to work with the original cast members, now some of Hollywood\u2019s biggest Gen Z power players \u2014 Zendaya, Sydney Sweeney, Jacob Elordi, Hunter Schafer \u2014 that had the greatest appeal. \u201cWe\u2019re like family at this point,\u201d she says. \u201cWe\u2019ve spent an enormous amount of time together, and we\u2019ve gone through high highs and low lows and through all of that I think we have each other. That\u2019s been nice because it\u2019s a huge sort of experience and we\u2019re all going through it together and we can talk to each other about it. It\u2019s amazing and it\u2019s also stressful.\u201d<\/p>\n

She says her fondest memories of filming are of the scenes when the cast are all together. \u201cLike the New Year\u2019s Eve party in season 1 or the carnival, where we all spent two weeks working all night together, sitting around and chatting.\u201d As for who\u2019s the goofiest on set? \u201cHunter makes me laugh really hard. We\u2019re always laughing together.\u201d Away from the set, there\u2019s a group chat \u2014 make that multiple breakout group chats \u2014 but Apatow admits, \u201cIf anything I\u2019m the most active.\u201d<\/p>\n

Apatow says it was during the Covid pandemic that she suddenly realized just how much the series had taken off, when her TikTok timeline was filled with people posting dances to the Euphoria<\/i> soundtrack. The show, which never shied away from depicting the darker side of adolescence \u2014 sex, drugs, and toxic bullying \u2014 precipitated a thousand think pieces about teen culture today. It also launched the careers of its young cast, who are now fully-fledged A-list names, top of every Hollywood casting director\u2019s wish list. \u201cWhen we went back to film season two, it felt like a different beast. I was like, \u2018Oh shit, this is crazy.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Maude
Max Mara sweater, pants, belt, shoes, us.maxmara.com.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What made Euphoria<\/i> such a success, Apatow believes, is its confidence. \u201cEven though a lot of it is very dramatized and heightened, it feels very truthful. It never was trying to be something else. It was always its own thing. It wasn\u2019t trying to be young or modern or hip. \u2026 It wasn\u2019t chasing a trend. It was setting a trend. I think there\u2019s no hesitation about casting family. My mom is amazing at doing very grounded comedy, and that\u2019s exactly what the part called for. It wasn\u2019t really a question. I think she\u2019s the best at what she does. And she was perfect.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, Apatow is taking what she\u2019s learned from Euphoria<\/i> and applying it to her own directorial debut \u2014 indie-film Poetic License.<\/i> The rom-com, about a therapist and soon-to-be empty-nester mom who becomes the object of affection for two male college students, got rave reviews at the Toronto Film Festival. It also stars Apatow\u2019s real-life mom, actress Leslie Mann. \u201cWhen I read the script, one of the big storylines is about a mother and daughter and there were parts of it that really reminded me of us,\u2019 Apatow says.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s clear that Apatow doesn\u2019t intend to shy away from the fact she grew up in one of Hollywood\u2019s most successful comedic families. She\u2019s starred alongside Mann in Knocked Up <\/i>and its semi-sequel This Is 40<\/i> \u2014 just two of dad Judd Apatow\u2019s very funny, very real films. But what was it like directing her mom? \u201cMy mom is my best friend. Knowing her so intimately, knowing her emotional levels, I know what she\u2019s capable of. So I was able to be very clear what I wanted her to do in each moment,\u201d she recalls. \u201cBut she\u2019s so truthful and present as an actress so, most of the time, I didn\u2019t really need to do anything because she\u2019s already got it.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Maude
Max Mara dress, us.maxmara.com.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Staying present is one of the most valuable pieces of advice Mann has given her. \u201cShe\u2019d always say that to me but, when I was directing her, I saw her doing it and when I went back to Euphoria<\/i> to shoot this season, I tried to stay really present.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, as the worthy recipient of the Max Mara Face of the Future award \u2014 one bestowed on Emily Blunt, Gemma Chan, and Zoe Salda\u00f1a in previous years and seen as a bellwether of trailblazing talent \u2014 Apatow finds she\u2019s the one being asked how to break through in Hollywood. You get the sense it\u2019s a position she\u2019s not quite familiar with yet. \u201cIt\u2019s crazy!\u201d she laughs. \u201cI look up to so many different women in film and female filmmakers, and I feel very honored to be seen as one of them.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Apatow says she copes with the pressure by concentrating on the work itself \u2014 not the public reaction. \u201cWhen you release something into the world, it\u2019s no longer yours and you have zero control over how people will respond to it and what they think of it,\u201d she says. \u201cWhen I was in film school, I remember writing papers about movies and making stuff up that I don\u2019t think the filmmaker intended. But you can find meaning in most art that the people themselves didn\u2019t intend.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

All of which is partly why Apatow may be intrigued to read the fan theories around the end of Euphoria<\/i>. \u201cThey make me laugh. I don\u2019t think any of them are real, but I respect it. If people think that\u2026\u201d Just note that the best ones may well end up on the Euphoria<\/i> cast group chat.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Maude
Max Mara dress, us.maxmara.com.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Maude
Max Mara jacket, top, shorts, us.maxmara.com.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Maude
Max Mara top, sweater, sunglasses, us.maxmara.com.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Maude
Max Mara jacket, top, skirt, belt, sunglasses, shoes, us.maxmara.com.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Maude
Max Mara jacket, shorts, belt, us.maxmara.com.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Maude
Max Mara sweater, shorts, us.maxmara.com.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Words by Hattie Brett, Photography by Cully Wright, Styling by J. Errico<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Hair by Cherilyn Farris, Hair assistance by Jamie Malone, Make-up by Shelby Smith;<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Shoot production by Jenn Kim and Ryan Holt at Kindly Productions, Production assistance by Mackenzie Paulson, Lac, John Chevalier, <\/strong><\/em>Photographer\u2019s assistance by James Ross Mankoff<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Read\u00a0GRAZIA USA<\/em>\u2019s Spring\/Summer Issue<\/a> featuring cover star Lux Pascal<\/a>:<\/strong><\/h4>\n