Euphoria creator reveals how Zendaya filmed Rue's terrifying buried alive scene

12 May 2026, 12:00

By Sam Prance

"She was a real trooper. She spent about three days buried up to her neck on the side of this hill."

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Euphoria's Sam Levinson has explained how Zendaya filmed the shocking season 3 scene where Rue is buried alive.

Euphoria is no stranger to filming wild sequences that make you squirm. This season alone, we've seen Faye and Rue become drug mules in graphic detail. Not only that but Nate and Cassie's wedding ended in misery. A thug was hired to cut off one of Nate's toes after the Jacob Elordi character found himself in considerable debt to a loan shark.

Euphoria season 3 episode 5 ups the ante with Alamo getting his henchmen to bury Rue up to her head. The episode then ends with Alamo riding towards Rue and seemingly whacking her head in with a polo club. How was the scene filmed though? Was Zendaya actually buried underground. Here's what creator Sam Levinson has said.

Read more: Does Rue die in Euphoria season 3? Episode 5's wild ending and what's next explained

Behind the scenes of Euphoria season 3 episode 5

Discussing the scene in HBO's Inside the Episode, Sam said: "It's sort of an old western trope. You know, we're going to bury you up to your neck. It was a really complicated thing to pull off because we wanted to shoot it practically. It meant we had to build some container with a box that Zendaya can duck under in the case of an earthquake."

In the behind the scenes featurette, you can see Zendaya in a box underground as the scene is being set up. Praising Zendaya's commitment, Sam added: "I hand it to Z. She was a real trooper. She spent about three days buried up to her neck on the side of this hill."

Stunt coordinator Jeff Barnett then added: "I had two stunt safeties in the hole with her with oxygen and water and anything she needed."

Zendaya was in an earthquake proof box buried underground. Picture: HBO

Zendaya's box had a separate entrance to where she poked her head out. Picture: Capital Buzz

G actor Marshawn Lynch also revealed that they really did kick dirt on Zendaya. He said: "Burying Z, that shit was wild as f---. We had to kick dirt on her and I'm like, 'You cool with this?' She like, 'Oh yeah'. Just like it was another day at the office or something." He then specified that they kicked "clean dirt" on her.

Separately, Alamo actor Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje revealed that he learned how to ride specifically for the role: "My focus was trying to not fall off the horse and that was nerve-wracking because I'd never ridden a horse in my life. I trained for six weeks...that was really important in conveying a cowboy."