Fez and Rue in Euphoria season 3
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AI? Old footage? Here’s how Angus Cloud’s Fez was brought back for the Euphoria S3 finale

I'm actually crying

Daisy Phillipson
1st June 2026, 09:10
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*Warning: Major spoilers ahead for Euphoria season three episode eight*

Despite his tragic passing, Angus Cloud was able to return as Fez in the Euphoria season three finale – and no, they didn’t use AI to recreate him on screen. 

Angus sadly passed away in 2023 from an accidental overdose, having openly struggled with addiction and mental health issues in the past. The world mourned the loss, and many assumed his role as loveable drug dealer Fezco O’Neill had left with him. 

But the Euphoria season three finale manages to bring him back in a heartbreaking scene, which unfolds after Rue (Zendaya) relapses. She sees a news report that Fez has broken out of prison and she goes to pick him up.  

On the way, she pulls up to the store Fez used to work at and has a memory of them together, standing in a field and laughing. If that weren’t enough of a gut punch, it’s soon revealed that Rue has overdosed in the present day and died. 

The flashback itself is entirely new, sparking questions about how the production team were able to create this footage. 

How Fez was brought back without AI

Thankfully, no AI technology was used in the making of this scene. Instead, Sam Levinson and the team were able to make use of an old reel of test film to get Fez back in the Euphoria season three finale. 

Speaking to Esquire, Levinson said, “His arc this season is really kind of amazing, despite the fact that he’s in prison and we don’t see him.”

The test footage was shot nearly seven years ago, and it had been sitting in storage until April 17th, when they tied it into the last ever episode. 

“It’s footage that never made it into the show,” Levinson explained. “I thought, oh, it’d be great to use that footage and just see him again – and see the two of them.”

“I feel relieved that I was able to put it all together and that we were able to turn it into something that I’m really proud of,” he added. “But then there’s always the adrenaline crash that comes with it. So I get a little sad towards the end.”

Before episode eight had wrapped up, Levinson told Esquire, “[Fez] has a plan to use parkour to escape from prison.”

This was based on a real-life 2023 prison break, which saw a killer using similar tactics to escape.

“Remember that case? It was in Pennsylvania, where the guy climbed out of the prison and ran into the woods. It’s sort of loosely inspired by that,” the creator added. 

Elaborating further on the show’s handling of the fentanyl crisis in the US, Levinson told the outlet, “Angus passed away in 2023 from a fentanyl overdose, and fentanyl is an issue that we have been dealing with since the first season.

“What I couldn’t wrap my head around is the fact that 73,000 people in the United States were dying a year of fentanyl overdoses and it seemed like no one was doing anything about it. 

“Politicians weren’t talking about it to the degree that you would think they would be, and it was just sort of an accepted reality.

“I really wanted to dive into that this season and deal with fentanyl, and deal with the consequences and how it’s taking away young people’s opportunity for a second chance. 

“When I was growing up and doing drugs, sure, you could OD on something, but it wasn’t like it is today where you make one wrong move and you’re dead.”

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Featured image credit: HBO