It's become a running joke, how long we've all had to wait for Euphoria Season 3. The second season of HBO's teen drama ended over two years ago, back in February 2022, and there's still no exact return date set on the schedule for the upcoming A24 TV show. I mean, Zendaya has been a bit busy, and one of her co-stars is apparently just as desperate as the rest of us for the show to return.
Actress Nika King portrays Leslie Bennett, the mother of Zendaya's Rue, on Sam Levinson’s edgy, Emmy-winning series. Though the role of Leslie, a single mom whose teenage daughter is dealing with the severity of addiction, is undoubtedly a dramatic one for King, the performer is actually better known as a standup comedian, and her TikTok post bemoaning the long wait between Euphoria's seasons sees King onstage joking about why she needs people to stop asking her about the show's much-delayed third outing.
@iamnikaking ♬ original sound - iamnikaking
The youngsters from the Euphoria cast have been notably booked and busy since the second season aired: Jacob Elordi played Elvis in Priscilla and was the object of Barry Keoghan's "sexy" bathtub affections in Saltburn, Sydney Sweeney revived the rom-com genre with Anyone but You, and Zendaya has been ruling as the queen of the red carpet in promotion of the sci-fi epic Dune: Part Two.
King joked about her onscreen daughter in her stand-up bit:
Season 3 is coming out, I don't fucking know. Don't ask me, I don't know. I know, it's one of those things. People are like, 'We need Season 3!' I'm like, 'Bitch, I need Season 3. I haven't paid my rent in six months' And Zendaya's over in Paris at Fashion Week. I'm like, 'Bitch, come home! I need you! Mama needs you.'
So far, King appeared in 14 episodes (out of 20 total) as part of Euphoria's main cast. She originally joined the series in a supporting role, but was soon promoted, and regularly appears in scenes opposite Zendaya and Storm Reid, who plays Rue's younger sister Gia.
Though her stand-up bit was obviously comedic, King got real that her work schedule hasn't been nearly as packed as those of her youthful co-stars, saying:
Ya'll laughing but I'm serious. I haven't booked nothing since Euphoria, this is some bullshit. I thought my career was on the rise, after Euphoria, I thought my career was good. It don't work that way. I called Taraji [P. Henson] and she was like, 'Bitch, get used to it!'
The actress' most recent credits include the 2023 sci-fi film 65, starring Adam Driver, and the upcoming 2024 film Possum Trot, about an East Texas couple who leads a movement in their community to adopt difficult kids in the foster system.
We know that Euphoria Season 3 won't be showing up on the 2024 TV premiere schedule, as it's currently slated for 2025. But for the sake of Nika King, as well as TV fans all over, here's hoping that the HBO powers that be will slot in the drama's return earlier rather than later.
