Three years ago, in the summer of 2019, I attended a screening event in Seattle for a new HBO series called Euphoria. The show had just begun airing though had already been gaining a whole heap of praise, especially for the talented cast who all were giving life to complicated yet compelling characters. Thus, when it was announced that Hunter Schafer and Barbie Ferreira would be in attendance, the excitement for the event grew exponentially. In front of a packed house who were there to see them, as the episode itself had already aired a few days prior, the duo discussed their characters and the journey they had been on over the course of the first season at that point. It was an interesting conversation where both reflected deeply on their respective roles and delved into the approach they took to their performances.
This is a story I recount not as some sort of humblebrag as there is nothing more perpetually annoying than writers who seek to inflate their egos by sharing stories of brushing shoulders with stars. Rather, the significance of referencing this event was to show how central Ferreira’s character of Kat was to the story and the craft she brought to it. It was her who drew a crowd that both admired and appreciated her specific presence in the story.
As we learned this week, that presence is now one the show will have to find a way to do without. In her Instagram story, Ferreira announced that “after four years of getting to embody the most special and enigmatic character Kat, I’m having to say a very teary-eyed goodbye. I hope many of you could see yourself in her like I did and that she brought you joy to see her journey into the character she is today. I put all my care and love into her and I hope you guys could feel it.”
The announcement was not entirely surprising, for reasons we’ll get into, though it was still a disappointing one. The work that Ferreira had been doing in exploring the character of Kat transcended the trappings of trope and became something more comprehensively lived in. In even just a short amount of screen time, she was able to instill the character with a richness that was as quietly riveting as it was rigorous. The performance deserves not just appreciation for what it brought to the show, but for what the story is now going to lose without it. Though there are many standout performances in the series, Ferreira gave one that was all her own and left an unforgettable mark on the trajectory of the story that could never be erased.\
Barbie Ferreira: The Reason Kat Is a Fan Favorite
The episode that was screened at the event, entitled “Shook Ones Pt II,” was the fourth of the first season. In it, all the characters we had gotten to know up until that point gathered at a fair, where conflicts began to brew in a whirlwind episode. In the middle of this was Kat, who, in the episode prior, commanded the narrative all on her own. That story is one that remains worth focusing on for how memorable it continues to be. It took us into the interior of her state of mind as she had to endure cruel taunting for her weight and the freedom she found through crafting an online persona as a means of expression. What began in writing explicit fan fiction then turns to camming which, as the introduction shows us, is liberating. From there, we see how she continues to experiment and build this persona. It was the beginning of Kat's transformation, which Ferreira made deeper with every scene from there forward.
It was Ferreira who ensured the role felt both honest and heartfelt, capturing the pains of growing up while also bringing to life the more joyful moments as well. She brought empathy to every scene of Kat’s self-exploration, evoking the experience of what it means to try to find yourself so thoroughly that it was impossible to shake. It was messy and often chaotic, though that is what made it so engrossing. When we see Kat hurriedly rushing to ready herself for a Skype appointment with an anonymous man, rehearsing what she will say as an introduction, Ferreira plays it all with such authenticity that you feel all her nervousness along with her. When she does the call, even from behind a mask, we can see how uncertain she initially is which soon turns to laughter and eventual fascination. The scene is abundantly awkward, but Ferreira grounds it all through the strength of her performance. It is a tonal tightrope that could easily get away from even the best of actors, though she ensures it remains emotional in the midst of its oddness. When given the material to work with, she gave a performance that was precise in its execution and vast in how expansive it felt. She built a character that went through one of the most engaging transformations on the show.
How 'Euphoria's Season 2 Failed Kat
Unfortunately, this is where we get to the part where we discuss the second season. Frankly, she didn’t really get any material to work with. This piece won’t relitigate all of this too much as we’ve already been down that road and how it culminated in a bizarre scene that basically wrote Kat out of the story by having her make a very out-of-character decision with hardly any buildup to it. In retrospect, the way the second season so thoroughly sidelined her character is one of the reasons it ended up being such a letdown in comparison to its first.
Now that she is gone entirely, there is the inescapable feeling that the show will continue to suffer as a result. There is no doubt that Ferreira will be fine, as she has more than shown she has the talent to continue giving strong performances in other work, but the narrative hole she will leave in Euphoria is a substantial one. It is hard to imagine anyone filling her shoes because of how completely she inhabited the character and the benefits it gave to the show. Whatever Euphoria does without her, the impact she left on its story will remain an indelible one.