Zendaya has shared her one wish for Rue in Euphoria season 3, and it might just break your heart

Euphoria star Zendaya has shared her hopes for Rue in the upcoming third season of the hit show, and they’re beautifully bittersweet.

During an awards season Q&A with The Hollywood Reporter, the Emmy-winning actress joined co-stars Sydney Sweeney, Hunter Schafer and Maude Apatow to discuss the most recent season and their hopes for the next installment.

Fans of Euphoria will know, of course, that Zendaya’s troubled character has been going through a rough time as she grapples with a drug addiction that is spiralling out of control.

In the fifth episode of the second season, “Stand Still Like the Hummingbird”, Zendaya’s standout performance helped secure her history-making second Emmy win for outstanding lead actress in a drama series.

The episode sees the queer teen on the run throughout the night in a bid to avoid the police, drug dealers, and her mother’s attempts to bring her to rehab. Although there was a “much sadder ending” to the second season, Zendaya explained that there was a collective desire to continue Rue’s story, especially given the challenges of the pandemic.

“There was a much sadder ending to this season, and so we were thinking, ‘We can’t leave her here, she means too much to us,’” Zendaya began.

“I think, collectively, as a people, we all needed a little bit of hope. We needed something to look forward to, some goodness and some joy, and trying to find that in a very painful time”.

“That felt very relevant to, I think, a lot of people, but also important to me when it comes to Rue,” she added.

“I want people to know that there is something beautiful inside of her, whether she can see it at that time or not”.

The actor, who also serves as executive producer on the HBO series, went on to explain that creator Sam Levinson then proceeded to completely change the ending.

“And it ended in the most beautiful way and the most incredible performances that you guys brought to life that blow my mind,” she continued.

“And really, the idea [is] that art can save lives in many ways. So it went through many iterations, but I’m grateful where it ended.”

However, in a Euphoria-style twist, Zendaya shared her optimistic hopes for the high schooler’s future, who she hopes is eventually able to “literally just to be able to be alive and maybe enjoy it.”

“I just hope for a little bit of joy and for her just to be able to breathe and love without the fear of losing,” she explained.

“I mean she’s gonna have to go through some things, yes, but you know, we’ll get there.”

And the actress has no doubt that her character will ultimately find happiness.

“I know that she can do it because Sam wrote it, and Sam is Rue, and he’s done it.” Zendaya said, referring to Levinson, who based the character of Rue on his own struggles with addiction.

“He’s proof that there is hope for Rue and anyone like Rue,” she continued, “and from the beautiful letters and people who have reached out — I am so grateful for those experiences when somebody comes up to me.

“And they speak about Rue and how they’ve connected to her or whatever part of their healing journey she has been able to be a part of.

“To me that is the greatest, greatest gift I can ever ask, it gives me euphoria and purpose in what I do.”

The hit HBO series has been renewed for a third season, and Zendaya has already started teasing what to expect.

“I think it’ll be exciting to explore the characters out of high school,” she told THR, “I want to see what Rue looks like in her sobriety journey, how chaotic that might look.

“But also with all the characters, in the sense where they’re trying to figure out what to do with their lives when high school is over and what kind of people they want to be.”

The first two seasons of Euphoria are available to watch on HBO Max in the US and Sky Atlantic and Now in the UK.