Hunter Schafer Is Tv's Future

The 20-year-Old Is The Breakout Star Of Euphoria, But She’s Still Getting Used To The Spotlight

- Maxwell Losgar

This summer, millions of people tuned in to Euphoria to watch Zendaya depart from her squeaky-clean Disney Channel image once and for all. She plays Rue Bennett, a 17-year-old drug addict fresh off an unsuccessful stint in rehab, on the Drake-produced HBO drama series. But it was 20-year-old model Hunter Schafer, making her acting debut, who stole the show. Schafer plays Jules, a trans girl who has just moved to town from the big city and quickly befriends Rue while also inadvertently winning her romantic interest.

As one of just a few visible trans actresses in Hollywood, Schafer gives a performance that has been hailed as revolutionary for the way it casually presents her gender identity. Jules isn’t a token character. Notably, her plotline is largely devoid of any pat explanations about her transition (though there is one frightening flashback to Jules’s childhood stint in a psych ward), and Schafer plays her with captivating vulnerability. “I certainly wasn’t living my life the same way Jules was in high school,” the actress says with a laugh, presumably at the thought of sleeping with a parade of married men in sketchy motels— something Jules does with alarming regularity. “The environment I was in at her age differs, but the headspace felt accurate. I could definitely relate to her motives.”