Here's How Old Alexa Demie Really Was While Playing a Teenager on Euphoria
Those behind the scenes of movies and television series will go to any length to make sure that their final product is perfect and well received by audiences.
Every decision counts. Every line said by the cast, every plot twist and turn, the music and even colors used all need to tie together to produce a hit. One of the biggest factors that have been known to make or break a show or movie is the actors chosen for specific roles.
When news that Zendaya was to be the main character on Netflix 's Euphoria was announced, it broke the internet, and rightfully so. Zendaya was already a well-established actress and social icon in her own right, and fans were beyond excited to see her in her first major Netflix role. She had already appeared in Dune and Spider-Man: Homecoming. However, when Euphoria was released on Netflix in 2019, the entire cast became popular with viewers, and this included actress Alexa Demie who plays Maddie Perez.
Euphoria focuses on a group of high school students as they try to navigate love, friendships, substance abuse, sex, and identity. The character Maddie Perez is in an on-again-off-again toxic relationship with her high school boyfriend whilst trying to maintain friendships and discover her own sense of self. The majority of teenage audiences would be able to relate to 17-year-old Maddie Perez in one way or another, what comes as a shock is that the sassy, fresh-faced, style-setting character is played by an actress almost double her age.
That's right, 17-year-old Maddie Perez is played by 31-year-old Alexa Demie. Although Demie has never revealed her actual age, internet sleuths claimed to have found her yearbook photos, and done the math from there, claiming that she was born in 1990 and the internet seems to agree.
Her fellow castmates range from 15 to 26, with her boyfriend in the series being 24 in real life, which feels like a more acceptable age difference from what he portrays.
The directors of television shows and movies have been known to cast older actors to play younger roles, often because of labor laws regarding how many hours minors can work on set, as well as the coverage of mature content in films and series which would be inappropriate for a minor to participate in. For whatever reason Demie was cast to play Maddie Perez, she certainly pulls off the age well, and what's more, the character has become a favorite of Euphoria fans.