See Minka Kelly's Mommy Role In 'Euphoria'

Euphoria follows Rue, a recovering drug addict, as she struggles with relationships and mental health alongside her peers. The series tackles the teenage landscape of substance-enhanced parties and anxiety-ridden day-to-day life with empathy and honesty as the classmates struggle to make sense of their futures. The show has gotten mostly positive reviews, with praise for its cinematography, score, cast performances (especially Zendaya, Schafer, and Sweeney), and approach to its mature subject matter.

Minka Kelly plays Samantha, a wealthy young mother. Maddy (Alexa Demie) has been babysitting Samantha's son and vamping around her massive home all season, catching glimpses of her glamorous life. In the second episode, we meet her in a tense and surprisingly sensual setting. After a night out with her husband, Samantha returns home to find Maddy taking selfies in Samantha's designer clothes. When Samantha beckons the high schooler to her closet, we suspect Maddy has left some evidence of her trespassing, but she only requests that Maddy unzip her gown. However, the camera captures Samantha giving Maddy an oddly affectionate hand rub as she tells her she's "so sweet."

As the series progresses, Samantha becomes Maddy's mentor, which in Euphoria terms means hanging out in the pool with the teen, pouring her a glass of rosé, and gleefully listening to her boy's problems.

Minka revealed to Vanity Fair that she was uncomfortable with some of the show's scenes. Kelly's character, Samantha, was supposed to get naked in the first scene. Things changed after she expressed her dissatisfaction to Euphoria creator Sam Levinson. However, Kelly claims Levinson wrote the role of Samantha specifically for her and offered her the part around the time of her birthday in 2021. Kelly says, "I was like, 'Sam Levinson knows who I am?' To be invited to one of your favorite shows is such a surreal thing."