News broke yesterday that Euphoria star Angus Cloud had died at just 25 years old, and Cloud’s costars (and the world) are in mourning. Storm Reid, Lukas Gage, and Javon Walton are among the show’s stars that paid tribute to their colleague and friend—a bright young talent in Hollywood that played the beloved character Fezco “Fez” O’Neill.
Season one star Lukas Gage was among the first Euphoria cast members to react publicly, People reports. Gage posted a group photo with Cloud on his Instagram story alongside the words “Rip @anguscloud” and a broken heart emoji. On Cloud’s most recent Instagram post from a week ago, Gage also commented “rest easy angus.”
Storm Reid shared a photo of Cloud on her own Instagram story and wrote the heartbreaking message “The tears just won’t stop” alongside the image.
Javon Walton—who memorably played Fez’s younger brother Ashtray—posted a photo of the two onscreen brothers hugging. He captioned the image “rest easy brother.” Walton also shared another photo to his Instagram story alongside the words “forever family.”
Paula Marshall, who played Nate Jacobs’ mom Marsha Jacobs, told People in a statement that Cloud “was kind and gracious and so unique. You couldn’t take your eyes off him, on film or on set. How lucky we all were to have witnessed his work. It was beyond truthful, every damn take. My heart hurts.”
Euphoria’s creator Sam Levinson said in a statement “There was no one quite like Angus. He was too special, too talented, and way too young to leave us so soon. He also struggled, like many of us, with addiction and depression. I hope he knew how many hearts he touched. I loved him. I always will. Rest in peace and God Bless his family.”
Euphoria debuted in 2019 and Fez won hearts as a drug dealer who had a soft spot for Rue (played by Zendaya) and her friends, namely Lexi (Maude Apatow), with whom Fez had a budding romance in the show’s second season. Going into the show’s third season, Fez’s future was a bit unclear (MASSIVE SPOILER ALERT—STOP READING IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN) because of Ashtray’s death and his own arrest. According to People, “filming constraints pre-writers’ and actors’ strikes meant viewers wouldn’t see new episodes until 2025.”
Cloud was discovered on the streets of Brooklyn and recruited to play Fez, in a series of events that of which he said he “definitely thought it could be some kind of scam.”
“Then they brought me back in and they showed me the role, and it made more sense,” he told i-D in March. “Because in my mind I was like, they stopped me because I look like I could be a star? Then I’m like, no, it’s because I look like I could be a drug dealer.”
Cloud never aspired to be famous, he said: “The difference between me and everyone else who’s famous is that that they were trying to get famous, for the most part,” he said. “They were working hard, and they were like, ‘I’m going to make it to the top.’ For me, it was just, like, too good of an opportunity to say no to. I had no idea it would go this far.”
