A New Dawn
With
Maude Apatow
She’s the breakout star of Euphoria and daughter of comedy royalty, yet MAUDE APATOW has kept both feet firmly on the ground throughout her stellar ascent. Here, she talks to SHANNON MAHANTY about anxiety, self-acceptance and shooting season three of one of the biggest TV shows of the decade
“Hi! I’m here a little early… wearing a green vest.” Maude Apatow’s message reads like pre-emptive admin before a blind date but, in reality, it’s not necessary: the 24-year-old actor is instantly recognizable – and not just to me. As I arrive, a young woman approaches her, asks for a selfie and points to the man she’s with: “Don’t you think he looks like Fez?”
“Yes!” Apatow affirms, before they debate his resemblance to her Euphoria co-star, Angus Cloud. “You look just like him!”
We’re meeting in London’s Soho square on a scorching afternoon and have a reservation somewhere more private, but Apatow – who is disarmingly down to earth – opts for a stroll followed by a stop at her favorite bubble-tea café instead. Indeed, Apatow has been living in London all summer. A self-confessed Anglophile, she came to get her head down to write (a little more on this later) before she starts shooting Euphoria season three. As we weave through the central London streets, she’s followed by excited looks of recognition. Her experience of almost-instant fame has been “totally fine,” she says. “Sometimes when I’m alone I get a little nervous, but I also don’t go out that much.”
“I was very SHY at school… I’d channel all my anxiety into theater. Everything had to be just PERFECT. That’s not always a good thing; I probably BURNT a lot of bridges”
The attention is to be expected as a star in one of the biggest TV shows of the decade. Since its launch in 2019, Euphoria has rocketed from a zeitgeisty series to a global phenomenon. Millions of indoctrinated viewers are gripped by a heady mix of sex, style and violence as suburban Californian teens navigate their chaotic high-school years. It’s been described as Skins for gen Z, only this cohort has access to more drugs and infinitely better wardrobes.“
After season one came out, it was kind of crazy,” says Apatow, who has a lot of “off-the-record” projects in the pipeline. “Then season two comes and it gets even crazier, I can’t get my head around it… but I’m so glad that people like it.”
“In high school I was NERVOUS all the time, I never stood up for myself and I felt like PEOPLE would take advantage of the fact I wouldn’t ever ARGUE… I just never felt confident”
In fact, season two averaged 16.3 million viewers per episode, making it one of the most-watched HBO series ever. And the drama’s impact on pop culture transcends its views. Case in point: more than 600,000 Euphoria-related playlists have been created on Spotify since last season aired, while ‘get the look’ makeup tutorials are watched by millions. The fashion – a mix of ’90s grunge meets noughties nostalgia – drives massive real-world sales. In one scene, Apatow’s character Lexi wore a checkered Miu Miu dress. After it aired, online searches for “plaid dresses” increased by 395 per cent.
Soon, Apatow will start preparing for Euphoria’s third season, which is being written as we speak. When we last saw her, Lexi’s blossoming will-they-won’t-they with Fezco [Angus Cloud] provided a joyful antidote to the toxic relationships that dominate the show, but – big spoiler alert – a violent clash in the finale threatened to derail any chance they may have had at finding love. “I’m so scared for them!” Apatow exclaims. I ask if, like the rest of the world, she’s rooting for them to be together. “I think so? But I’m not sure! I know nothing yet, but I can’t wait to see how it all goes down.”
In season one, Apatow’s character took a back seat to older sister Cassie (played by Sydney Sweeney). But the second season explored the inner life of the softer and more introverted sister waiting in the wings, with the frenzied season finale revolving around a play written by and starring Lexi. Snapping at stagehands and criticizing the actors, she transformed into a domineering director, hellbent on perfection.
It’s a tipping-point moment that Apatow had a lot of input in. “[Showrunner] Sam [Levinson] and I would talk on the phone for hours [about] the storyline. I talked to him about my experience doing theater in high school and I remember us saying, ‘OK, she should definitely be a tyrant’! Sam isn’t precious about dialogue – if you make suggestions or say, ‘I don’t think my character would do that’, he is super-open to having that conversation.”
Warm and laid-back, it’s hard to believe Apatow’s own experiences could inspire such chaos, but she assures me she has a bossier side. “I was very shy at school, but I also cared so much. I’d channel all my anxiety into theater. Everything had to be just perfect. That’s not always a good thing; I probably burnt a lot of bridges.’
Apatow was a student at Northwestern University in Illinois when she first auditioned for the role of Lexi, having recently played a small part in Levinson’s 2018 movie Assassination Nation. “I always felt like he got me. He has a lot of similar anxieties to me and has been so supportive. I think he knows what I’m capable of and how to push me,” Apatow says. However, despite having the director onside, the Euphoria audition process was grueling. “The final one was with the network; it’s you in a room, performing in front of 15 people in suits. I was so anxious I just blacked out.”
“It’s so EARLY in my career, I don’t have much to SHOW yet, but hopefully one day I’ll be really PROUD of the stuff I’ve done by myself”
Anxiety is a recurring theme in our conversation – it’s been a long-time struggle for Apatow and is one of the ways she connected to her Euphoria character. “In high school, I was nervous all the time, I never stood up for myself and I felt like people would take advantage of the fact I wouldn’t ever argue. In class, I’d be nervous to raise my hand and speak, even though I would always be thinking of things to say. I just never felt confident.”
Theater provided a salve. At school, she performed regularly, though nerves soon crept in. “It’s weird because when I was younger, I didn’t have stage fright at all. Then, when I was around 13, I started getting more anxious. Something shifted – I’d get such bad stage fright, I’d throw up. Only recently has that subsided.” In such a high-pressured industry, did she ever want to quit? “No, I get so nervous about everything it feels normal to me, and the pay-off is always worth it: I never want to let the fear get in the way,” she says.
As the daughter of comedy director and screenwriter Judd Apatow and actor Leslie Mann (her first screen roles were in Knocked Up and Funny People, films directed by her father), I ask if her revered parents have anything to do with her sense of pressure and perfectionism. “Oh, for sure!” she says, “I try not to think about that so much, but it definitely drives me. I feel like I really need to prove myself, so I work extra hard.”
Having comedy royalty for parents also means she has been cited as an example of a recent internet obsession: ‘nepotism babies’. Entire subsections of Twitter and TikTok are dedicated to ‘outing’ children of celebrities, particularly in Hollywood. It’s a somewhat uncomfortable topic for Apatow. “At first I was sad…” She stops. “Because it felt like people weren’t judging you on your talent?” I ask. “Right. And that’s fine. I try not to let it get to me because I obviously understand that I’m in such a lucky position. A lot of people [in a similar position] have proven themselves over the years, so I’ve got to keep going and make good work. It’s so early in my career, I don’t have much to show yet, but hopefully one day I’ll be really proud of the stuff I’ve done by myself.”
Soon Apatow will star in Pantheon, an animated sci-fi series exploring what happens when human consciousness is ‘uploaded’ online. Then there’s a “dark comedy” being developed with Netflix that she will write and star in, although that’s all she can say at this point.
“My dad always told me acting is tough because you never know what’s going to come next. He always encouraged me to write. You can shoot a movie and really hope it will work, but you don’t know how they’re gonna edit it. To not have any control of that is scary sometimes, so I try to do other things.”
However, when it comes to writing, Apatow is her own worst critic. “I’m always hard on myself. Sometimes I get in my head and think, ‘Why would anyone want to hear what I have to say?’ Then I tell myself, it doesn't matter, it’s just entertainment. I try to clear my head of any of those thoughts. You can’t constantly judge yourself: it’s such a creativity killer.”
She says both parents offer sage advice about the industry’s cut-throat nature. “Dad always reads what I write, but I have to be at a certain point. I’ll wait until I’m almost done and then get notes from him. I get annoyed because he’ll come up with a better idea, but he’s super-helpful. So is my mom.”
This summer, the family went to Glastonbury together and took a trip to the Amalfi Coast to celebrate her parents’ wedding anniversary. “I’m really close with my sister [Iris]. She’s five years younger – for ages, she felt really young and we weren’t on the same page. Now it feels like I have a friend inbuilt into the family, it’s so fun.” When she has time off, Apatow spends as much time as possible with the best friends she’s known since high school, ideally hanging out in her parents’ backyard.
As our time draws to a close, Apatow reflects on the idea of self-care. In 2020, she suffered “a really bad infection”, for which she was briefly hospitalized. “It really took down my immune system… Since then, I’ve been trying to take it easier on myself. I wish I could say I meditate. I don’t, but I’m trying not to run myself into the ground so much. [And] I’m trying to judge myself less.” She may have to spend the rest of the afternoon holed up in her apartment writing, but with bubble tea in hand and a smile on her face, she decides to take the long route home.
Pantheon is available to stream on AMC+
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