Barbie Ferreira has addressed long-standing speculation about her departure from Euphoria, revealing that her exit was not due to a feud with creator Sam Levinson.
The actress, who portrayed Kat Hernandez for two seasons, explained that her decision to leave the show came after an extended period of reflection about her character’s direction.
“It wasn’t dramatic,” she said on the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast on April 14. “In fact, it was kind of the opposite of dramatic where it was like a long process of being like, ‘I don’t know if this is it for me’ and then having conversations with people and us trying to figure out how to make Kat like a fully fleshed-out character and it just wasn’t going anywhere.”
She continued, “Since we can’t find anything and we can’t land on anything, I’m like, ‘Let me just go. Let me just go do my thing.’”
Ferreira also explained that staying on the widely popular series without meaningful material did not align with her creative goals.
“I would rather do an indie movie,” she said, “where I’m acting, I’m flexing my muscles, I’m being creatively asked to do things rather than kind of sitting around to be like a background character.”
Addressing rumors of tension with Levinson, she firmly denied any dramatic fallout.
“It wasn’t like I woke up one day angry,” she clarified. “It was a very long arduous process of processing and weighing the pros and cons, seeing what was going to happen, and at the end of the day being like, ‘I believe in myself as an actress and I want to see my career look a little differently than this.’ And I’m like, it’s okay if it’s not like the hit TV show.”
Following her exit, Ferreira has shifted her focus toward independent films, including Faces of Death and Mile End Kicks, the latter of which she also produced.
Reflecting on her career direction, she added, “I do indie movies that literally like are made on a shoestring budget,” she joked, “but it’s cool and real stories. And I’d rather that than kind of be a second thought.”
With her latest comments, Ferreira has clarified that her departure from Euphoria was driven by creative considerations rather than conflict, putting an end to ongoing speculation surrounding her exit.
Source: E! News