“This season became my way to honor Angus and all the kids who weren’t offered a second chance,” creator Sam Levinson previously said of Cloud’s 2023 death at age 25.

Euphoria season 3 premiere reveals what happened to Fezco after actor Angus Cloud’s death

"This season became my way to honor Angus and all the kids who weren’t offered a second chance," creator Sam Levinson previously said of Cloud's 2023 death at age 25.

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Joey Nolfi is a senior writer at *. *Since 2016, his work at EW includes RuPaul’s Drag Race video interviews, Oscars predictions, and more.

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April 12, 2026 9:45 p.m. ET

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Angus Cloud as Fezco on 'Euphoria'. Credit: Eddy Chen/HBO

Though *Euphoria* actor Angus Cloud died unexpectedly in 2023 following season 2 of the HBO show, the actor's beloved character, Fezco, lives on in season 3.

While Cloud's likeness doesn't appear on screen in Sunday's *Euphoria* season 3 premiere, after a five-year time jump from the end of season 2, Zendaya's Rue reveals in a conversation with Fezco's former romantic interest, Lexi (Maude Apatow), that the troubled drug dealer is alive (but incarcerated) in the world of the show.

The moment comes after the show sheds light on Rue's whereabouts, which see her working as a drug mule to pay off her long-standing debt to Laurie (Martha Kelly). Between carting narcotics across the border to Mexico, Rue and Faye (Chloe Cherry) form a close friendship, though Rue hangs on to ties to her past. In particular, she visits Lexi at the latter's new apartment in Los Angeles, which she secured through her job working as an assistant to a popular TV executive (Sharon Stone).**

'Euphoria' actor Angus Cloud as Fezco on season 2.

While there, Rue tells Lexi that she's been visiting her college-aged sister, Gia (Storm Reid, who also didn't return for season 3), at school instead of running drugs. She then urges Lexi to call Fezco, whom she hasn't spoken to in years, as he's currently serving 30 years in prison — but, according to Rue, still misses Lexi.

Fezco famously found himself at the center of a police raid in the season 2 finale, alongside his adopted brother, Ashtray (Javon Walton), who was shot and killed by authorities in the episode.

Outside the show, Cloud died in July 2023 at age 25 from an accidental overdose of a mix of fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, and benzodiazepines, per the Alameda County Coroner's Office at the time.

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On the red carpet at the *Euphoria* season 3 premiere in Los Angeles, creator Sam Levinson got emotional as he told * *that Cloud's death greatly impacted him.

"I fought very hard to keep him clean when he was alive, and losing him was really tough," Levinson told EW, referencing Cloud's death.

Levinson added that he "felt like if I couldn’t keep him alive in life, then, I could in the show."

Zendaya as Rue in 'Euphoria' season 3.

In a statement sent to press who received pre-season screeners for *Euphoria*, Levinson wrote about Cloud's death, telling reporters that the star's death "deeply affected me in an unexpected way" as he headed into mapping out a story for season 3.

"With addiction, you're supposed to be prepared for the loss of someone struggling, but his death stirred an anger — not only for him, but for the many young lives in America cut short by fentanyl," Levinson's statement read. "This season became my way to honor Angus and all the kids who weren’t offered a second chance. I wanted to tell a story where hope and light could still be felt in the darkness."

In addition to Cloud and Reid, other stars who won't return for *Euphoria* season 3 include Barbie Ferreira and Austin Abrams. Eric Dane, who died in February, will return as well, after having filmed his scenes in one day before his death from complications related to ALS.

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