Meet Maude Apatow! 5 Things to Know About the ‘Euphoria’ Star

Becoming a household name. Euphoria fans hoped season 2 would bring a larger part for Maude Apatow’s character, Lexi Howard, and the show’s creator, Sam Levinson, delivered.

Following the second season premiere, Apatow teased what fans can expect from the quiet teenager as the HBO show continues.

“I think you’ll see a lot more of my character this season,” the actress shared during a January appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. “It’s all exciting and I think people are going to be surprised.”

As more episodes have aired, the King of Staten Island star explained how she relates to Lexi, the younger sister of outgoing popular girl Cassie (Sydney Sweeney). Apatow told W Magazine in January that she never thought of herself as someone with “main character energy” previously.

“I definitely am similar to Lexi in the way that I feel like I’m always judging what I’m saying. I get anxious as I’m talking,” the California native added. “I feel like I’ve gotten better with that as I’ve gotten older, even though it happens still. But when I think about Lexi, it’s a way, way more extreme version of that. She actually can’t speak because of it.”

The second season premiere was mainly set at a New Year’s Eve party, where fans were brought right back into the sex and drug-filled world of Rue Bennett (Zendaya). Amid the party, sparks seemed to fly between the timid Apatow’s Lexi and local drug dealer Fezco (Angus Cloud) who, at one point during their conversation, refers to her as “f—cking fearless.”

Fezco continues, “You’re, like, the coolest person in here,” but Lexi brushes him off. After telling her to stop “doubting yourself and s—t,” the drug dealer asks for her phone number. He concludes, “Hope to see you soon Lexi, have a good night.”

While Apatow has stayed mum about the possible romance surrounding these two characters, Cloud, for his part, said it’s been a “blessing” to share the screen with the star of Netflix’s Hollywood.

“I love working with Maude — she’s the best. We always had a great time whenever we get to work together. She’s hilarious. She cracks me up,” the actor told Complex in January, noting that sharing the screen with Apatow “helps” him channel a different side of Fezco.

“You gotta feel safe and comfortable to sort of open up,” he said. “I always feel like that around her, so it’s not too difficult.”

Euphoria season 2 airs on HBO and HBO Max Sundays at 9 p.m. ET. Keep scrolling for five things you need to know about the actress:

1. She Comes From a Famous Family
If Apatow’s last name sounds familiar it’s because her father, Judd Apatow, is the mastermind behind movies like Knocked Up, Funny People and This Is 40, among others. Her mom is 17 Again actress Leslie Mann and sister is Iris Apatow. Broadimage/Shutterstock

2. Her ‘Euphoria’ Role Was Written Specifically for Her
After working with Apatow in the 2018 movie Assassination Nation, Euphoria creator Levinson wanted to work with the actress a second time. “I had a Skype with Maude and found her to be a fascinating and hilarious and neurotic character with this wonderful, expressive silent-movie-star face,” he told Variety in May 2020. “But she wasn’t right for any of the characters, so I wrote a new one for her.” Eddy Chen/HBO

3. She Did a Brief Stint in College
Before her career took off, Apatow was studying theater at Northwestern University. However, she eventually left without finishing school. “My mom made a joke that it was because it was too cold and all of these people tweeted, ‘You're so privileged. That's obnoxious.’ They didn't know the situation. I would not leave a place because I was cold,” she explained to Vanity Fair in June 2019. “I took a break because I was having a really hard time there, and when I was planning on going back, I got cast in Euphoria. I wanted to make sure if I was leaving school to act that it was worth it, and Euphoria is unlike anything I've ever seen. It's intense and hard to watch, but I'm so lucky I got it, because shows like this don't happen all the time.” Arthur Mola/Invision/AP/Shutterstock

4. Pete Davidson Suggested Her for ‘The King of Staten Island’
Apatow starred as Davidson’s on-screen sister, Claire Carlin, in the comedian’s semi-biographical 2020 movie, which was directed by her dad. At first, she wasn’t considered for the role, but Judd told Insider, “Pete was a real proponent of her.” “We held a bunch of auditions, and Maude stood out from day one,” Davidson told Variety in May 2020. “I was always a fan of Maude, and right after we read with her, we were like, ‘Bingo!’” Mary Cybulski/Universal/Kobal/Shutterstock

5. She Loves One Direction
The actress has cried over the boy band multiple times over the years. During a January 2022 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, the talk show host played videos of Apatow before she interviewed One Direction at 14 years old. “I had a popular Twitter page when I was, like, 13 and I decided I wanted to become a child journalist and they asked me to interview One Direction on their first trip to America,” she explained at the time. “I couldn’t even say words! They weren’t coming out! I don’t know if I did such a great job honestly. It couldn’t have been good.” Shutterstock (2)