American comedian Martha Kelly has revealed she’s just as creeped out by her character in Euphoria as viewers are.
The 53-year-old stand-up, best known for her dead-pan comedy routines and for her role in the Zach Galifianakis comedy Baskets, plays villainous drug dealer Laurie in the gritty HBO/Sky Atlantic drama.
Her monotone delivery of lines on the series has given fans the shivers as she is shown subtly threatening series star Rue Bennett, played by Zendaya, with violence and hinting she plans to force her into prostitution.
The most recent episode in particular left fans even more distressed as Laurie was shown injecting Rue with morphine while she was experiencing drug withdrawal and after losing a suitcase full of drugs that she had planned to sell on Laurie’s behalf.
Opening up about her role on the show to Vulture, Martha confesses she is creeped out by her character herself – a role she was handed by show creator Sam Levinson who approached her to play the villain without auditioning.
Martha said: “When I met [show creator Sam Levinson], I had already read the scripts and I was very nervous about playing somebody as bad as her.
“I’ve really only done comedies before this and I was scared to be that unlikable, but he was so lovely and made me feel like, Okay, this is worth trying.”
She adds: “I wanted to back out of her creepiness as much as possible because as a stand-up comic, I always want to be likable. Part of me was like, I hope there’s a way I don’t have to go full monster. But it’s also scarier.”
Martha hints that viewers cannot take anything that Laurie says for granted as a story the character told Rue about her own descent into drug addiction may not have been honest.
She admits: “I assume it’s true, but I wouldn’t take anything Laurie says at face value in any way that makes her less of a monster.
“Everything she says and does is what a manipulative sociopath would be like as they project this [image of] I’m just a nice person and I’m down on my luck too. It’s clear by the end of that episode that she’s a really calculating, destructive person.”
She also said she was complexity star struck by Zendaya – who has already won an Emmy for her role as troubled teen Rue.
She gushed: “I don’t think I ever got over the nervousness of being starstruck by Zendaya, but she and Sam were so easygoing. It was pretty obvious I was nervous. Probably I also said, ‘I’m really nervous.’ But they were so nice.
“The day that we shot the scene where Zendaya comes to Laurie with a business idea, I messed up my lines on one of the takes and I was really apologetic.
“Zendaya was like, ‘It’s totally fine. It’s no pressure.’ You can’t not be starstruck by her because she’s such a gifted actor and so young to have accomplished all that she has.”
Euphoria air via NOW TV and Sky Atlantic on Mondays.
