Minka Kelly Says She Refused To Do ‘Euphoria’ Nude Scene

Minka Kelly, who has joined the HBO cult series Euphoria cast in its second season playing Samantha, spoke about how she declined to do a scene nude on the first day of shooting for her character.

In a scene where Kelly’s character gets Maddy (Alexa Demie), who she hired to be her son’s babysitter, to zip up her dress, Kelly told Vanity Fair that the show’s creator Sam Levinson wanted her to end up disrobed before she pushed back. Levinson was both writer and director for all eight episodes of the hit drama’s second season, so he was heavily involved in set operations more than some series creators tend to be.

Kelly said Levinson “thought it would be more interesting if my dress fell to the ground. That was my first day as a guest on this new show, and I just didn’t feel comfortable getting naked.” To Levinson’s credit, he didn’t put up any fight as far as Kelly remembered. When she asked if she could stay clothed for the scene, he apparently gave a quick “‘Ok!’ He didn’t even hesitate. And he shot a beautiful scene and got exactly what he wanted.”

While the show has been performing well in ratings, there have been rumors of on-set drama during the production of this season, and reports of creator Levinson occasionally coming to set unprepared. Kelly told Vanity Fair that a key scene between her and Demie in a pool was constantly being rewritten by Levinson between takes, but she praised that he wasn’t afraid to make the changes he wanted.

More worryingly than rewriting dialogue, though, some anonymous crew members have claimed that Levinson would sometimes show up to set without shot lists, which are essential for structuring shoot schedules. If this is true, then it would have further exacerbated the lengths of exhausting shoot days, the most tightly organized of which can have punishingly long hours.

While it’s very positive to hear that the creative boss behind this smash teen drama is always open to walking back nude scenes in moments when his cast is uncomfortable, these allegations of unprofessionalism are unfortunate at best if true. It would be in the show’s best interests to bring in more directors to lighten Levinson’s workload as they did in Euphoria‘s first season. With that said, some of the visuals and performances of this season have been absolutely incredible.

Euphoria was renewed for a third season this month.