Euphoria star Dominic Fike says he nearly got fired from show after struggling with addiction
Topics: Drugs, Celebrity, Film and TV, HBO
Katherine Sidnell
Featured Image Credit: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images/NBC
Topics: Drugs, Celebrity, Film and TV, HBO
Dominic Fike has revealed he was nearly fired from Euphoria, as he struggled with drug addiction during filming.
The 27-year-old had been a successful musician before appearing in the hit HBO show as Elliot during the second season.
Struggling to shake his addiction, the musician-turned-actor even sought help from the series creator, Sam Levinson.
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Revisiting his musical roots, Fike made an appearance on The Zane Lowe Interview series and made the admission on the podcast.
“I was a drug addict, and coming onto a show, you know, mainly about drugs is very difficult,” he confessed, adding: “I was so f***ed up doing a lot of that show…it was really bad.”
Things became so bad during filming that ‘Mona Lisa’ singer was nearly fired from the HBO production.
“I was reprimanded for it. I almost, you know, got kicked off the show…they were like 'bro, you cannot be doing this,'” he admitted on the Apple Podcasts show.
He even sought the support of Euphoria’s creator, Sam Levinson, who acted as Fike’s ‘sober coach’, but it did little to improve things on the show.
When asked if he ever filmed under the influence, he told the former Radio One DJ: “Oh my God, yeah dude.”
It led to showrunners having to use footage of Fike whilst high, because there was no other alternative – something which felt like a ‘bit of a double standard’ for the young actor.
At the time, execs on the show had wanted him to be sober whilst filming but still used a ‘great scene’ where Fike was high throughout.
“Yeah, that’s entertainment dude,” he glumly replied: “They give you a bunch of money and they’re like, ‘Yeah, figure it out bud. Sink or swim.’”
It’s not the only time Fike has spoken openly about his drug use, with the 27-year-old revealing to GQ that he’d taken mushrooms before a chemistry read with Barbie Ferreira.
“I started peaking right when me and Barbie were reading. I was heavily addicted to so many drugs,” he revealed in the in-depth interview.
Unsurprisingly, he didn’t get the role but after a stint in rehab back in 2020, he was reconsidered by show execs.
Fike is now looking to the future of the series, saying the third season is ‘gonna be sick’ and confessed that he has a ‘better dynamic with everybody’ on set now he’s finally sober.
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