Meet Angus Cloud, The Actor Who Plays Fez On 'Euphoria' On HBO
He was discovered by chance.
instagram Who plays Fez on Euphoria on HBO? If you’ve been watching the amazing show Euphoria on HBO, you know how intense things can get. The show depicts a group of high school students, focusing on how they deal with personal identity, trauma, social media, friendship, love, and, of course, drugs. Though the finale aired on August 4th, there’s no doubt it’s made some waves about the subject matter, but received mostly praise for the talent and acting.
One of the characters, Fezco, is Rue’s (played by Zendaya) former drug dealer, who attempts to keep her clean by refusing to sell to her. No spoilers, but things kind of get out of hand thanks to nemesis and all-around piece of crap, Nate Jacobs. Though Fezco’s fate is left uncertain, fans are certainly hoping we see more of him in season two.
But who is Angus Cloud, the actor who plays Fezco? Here are five things to know about him, including his personal life, how he got the role, and how the show has impacted him.
1. He landed the role as Fez by chance.
Before working on Euphoria, Cloud was working at a chicken-and-waffles restaurant near Barclays Center in Brooklyn. But last summer, he was walking in Manhattan when he was approached by a woman. The woman worked for Jennifer Venditti, a casting agent who finds people who don’t look like “typical movie stars.”
On a phone interview with Wall Street Journal, Cloud revealed, “She asked me if I would be down to do an audition, but she didn’t exactly say what it was for. I thought it was some type of scam.”
In another interview with Refinery29, Cloud said, “[Euphoria's] my first role. They asked me when I was walking down the street if I wanted to audition for something. They didn’t tell me what the show was or nothing, but they asked me if I wanted to be an actor or what not, so I was like yeah, I am down.” Though, he doesn’t know why they stopped him specifically: “I really have no idea. I figured they already had a type of person in mind, and they saw me and were like, ‘Oh that person fits it.’ I wasn’t really thinking about [acting] at all. But definitely now [I am].”
2. He didn’t initially want to be an actor.
Before getting the role, Cloud said, “I just kinda went out to the east coast on a one-way type thing. I was gonna move to Ireland for a while. All my family lives out there.” His plan was to just live and work.
However, he attended the Oakland School for the Arts, and did have experience working in theater. Zendaya also attended the school, but they weren’t friends. “We had some of the same friends I guess, but I didn’t really know her... We did Rent. That’s what it’s called, right? It was cool,” he said.
Cloud was also directing and editing music videos for rap songs he was making with his friends on YouTube.
As he said in the Wall Street Journal interview, “I had a computer and I downloaded the editing software and started making the videos and whatnot... I still got my little camera, I be filming documentary stuff. The music videos, I’m trying to do some more, you know, like that.” And now, his dreams have changed: “I’m trying to work on my acting for sure. My new dream is to be the voice of a cartoon or something. Some kind of voice-over thing, I’m trying to do that.”
3. Being on Euphoria challenged him as an actor.
According to Cloud, he often faced “curveballs” from Sam Levinson, Euphoria's writer and director. Levinson would occasionally change things while shooting. In one scene, where Rue is given fentanyl by Fez’s supplier, Mouse, Levinson secretly told the actor who plays Mouse to change the power dynamics of the scene by having Rue rib his character. “He’s a genius... I was like, that s*** hits way harder. How he thought of that, I don’t know,” Cloud says.
In another scene where Rue is banging on Fez’s door, desperate to find drugs, Fez refuses and locks the door.
Cloud discussed what it was like filming that scene, adding, “I had the easy part, you know! I was like, Holy smokes. I was feeling it. It was real energy flowing. I was getting a shiver down my back and everything. The emotions and energy — I hadn’t really experienced that before. That’s how I realized how acting worked. The actors bounce off each other, so for her to be yelling and making me feel that type of way, it was easier for me to be in the moment.”
4. He bears an uncanny resemblance to Mac Miller.
Miller passed away in September 2018 from an accidental drug overdose. And the fact that Fez plays a drug dealer is just an unfortunate and tragic coincidence. Representatives for HBO haven’t responded to whether or not Cloud was purposely cast because he looked like Miller.
5. He shares similarities with Fez.
He revealed in the Refinery29 interview that he does relate to Fez on some level.
“We got some similarities, you know? It’s not like I am playing a whole different person. It’s my voice. Sometimes I freestyle the lines and say what I want to say. We definitely have some similarities. When I am over there, I am trying to act natural. I want to seem like a regular person, so I just act relaxed. [Fez] is definitely a good guy. You wouldn’t expect that character in most on-screen things to have that moral compass, so it is a nice change. People like that are hard to come by.”
Samantha Maffucci is an editor for YourTango who focuses on writing trending news and entertainment pieces. In her free time, you can find her obsessing about cats, wine, and all things Vanderpump Rules.