Five years ago, Angus Cloud, an Oakland native, was walking down a Manhattan street with a friend, when the pair were stopped by a woman claiming to work for a casting company. She asked them both to come in and read for a new TV series. His friend called bulls***, thinking it was a scam. Cloud, who was 20 and working in a chicken and waffle joint, suspected the same – but went anyway. Because, well, why not? Fast forward one year, Cloud found himself starring alongside Zendaya and Sydney Sweeney in Euphoria. Sam Levinson’s buzzy and provocative drama about misbehaving teens (think Skins but American) would go on to win Emmys for its stark portrayal of adolescence and become the second-most watched series in HBO history. Cloud’s character, Fezco, a perennially chill drug dealer, quickly emerged as a fan favourite – as did the actor playing him.
Cloud was, by all counts, a star on the rise. His arresting turn in season two, which made spectacular use of a minor storyline, was further proof of his upward trajectory – a trajectory that has been tragically and suddenly cut short with his early death. It was announced on Monday that the actor, born Conor Angus Cloud Hickey, had died aged 25 at his family home in Oakland, California.
