Nika King on her absence

The third – and likely final – season of “Euphoria” is a case study in abundance. It’s the Artemis II of TV shows goes so far over the top that it passes the moon before crashing back to Earth. What was once a flashy clique of wayward teenagers bathed in shades of purple has turned into a barren hellscape full of drug smuggling cartels, gun-packing pimps, sugar daddies with mummification kinks and online streamers. These kids are certainly no longer in high school and don’t feel tied to what once was.

Part of the reason for this evolution is that the two forces that kept Sam Levinson’s embattled protagonist, Rue (Zendaya), grounded in reality have been written off either entirely (her younger sister Gia, played by Storm Reid) or largely (her mother Leslie, brought to life by Nika King). Leslie’s absence is all the more shocking to viewers because Rue has said time and time again how adrift she feels at sea due to being estranged from her mother, and the phone calls she keeps making for her. In Sunday’s sixth episode of the season, titled “Stand Still and See,” we finally got an oh-so-brief glimpse of Leslie on the other line.

Rue had just been given a lifeline in the form of an incriminating conversation she recorded on her phone between Alamo (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) and Laurie (Martha Kelly) about smuggling fentanyl in ambulances from Mexico to the US – enough information to get her out of trouble with the DEA. She was also punched into another dimension by Jules (Hunter Schafer) after hurling several insults at her about Jules’ whole sugar baby situation. And so Rue finds herself in a pew, praying for forgiveness. She calls her mother. “I love you so much, and I’m sorry if I made it harder. I didn’t really realize how hard it is to be here alone,” Rue tells Leslie. “I know I’m not alone. I know that. But yeah, I’ll – I’ll be home soon.”

And then we see Leslie on the other line for the first time this season. “I love you, Rue,” Leslie replies, before solemnly looking out the window.

It’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss scene, and its brevity surprised not only King, who plays Leslie, but her mother as well. On Sunday night, just after the episode aired, King posted a hilarious video on her Instagram from her mother, Sharon, who “clown” her about how short the scene was and asked, “What happened?” and joked that the internet had waited “three years” to see her say a single sentence.

“My mom is my best friend. She’s seen me go through the ups and downs of the industry, and she always tries to make me laugh and realize that it’s not the end of the world,” says King. Variety. “I had told her what I was doing, and I was looking forward to seeing it, and when we saw it together, she looked at me like, ‘What happened?’ I thought that was a funny moment to share with my followers and to see the dynamic between my mother and me.”

That dynamic between King and her mother, whom she calls “the real comedian of the family,” helped her so vividly capture the plight of Leslie, a mother desperately trying to get through to her daughter as she falls deeper into drug addiction.

“My mother was an addict when I was growing up, so I always hold this memory of helplessness. I can channel that easily,” says King. “The dynamic between Rue and Leslie is very similar to my mother and I.”

Things finally changed for the better when King’s mother was given a choice: get clean or your children will go to foster care. It served as a harsh reality check for Sharon, who herself had grown up in a foster home after her mother was murdered when she was just a child.

“She went around the world without having a birth mother,” King says. “She was taken in by a pastor and his wife, but it wasn’t the best situation. My mother went to rehab after being told that if she didn’t get clean, she would lose her children. That was the turning point for her. It’s been a long process for us to get to this place.”

King grew up in Miami and didn’t know she wanted to be an actor until she went to college. Although she enrolled with physical therapy in mind, she took acting classes and immediately thought, “This is what I want to do for the rest of my life.” She then moved to Los Angeles and immediately dove into the comedy world, from sketch comedy and stand-up to studying improvisation with The Groundlings. King appeared in “Hannah Montana” and “2 Broke Girls,” as well as “Wanda Sykes Presents Herlarious”; hosts a monthly comedy show at the Improv called “Nika King and Friends!”; and was a member of Elite Delta Force 3 (EDF3), an all-black female sketch comedy group alongside Robin Thede and Nefetari Spencer.

But it was Leslie’s role in ‘Euphoria’ that really changed the game for her.

“That was the breakout role because it was so different from what I was used to as a dramatic role,” says King. “It took me on a different path. People seeing me in that role definitely surprised them, and it kind of surprised me too. I didn’t know I could do that deep work, but because I was facing Storm, Z and Colman [Domingo]you really need to up your game.

King auditioned for the role of Leslie in May 2018 and was only given a brief description of her character as a strong, loving mother dealing with a daughter battling drug addiction. She didn’t really think she had a chance at it, considering the competition at the audition.

“I saw every actress I grew up with watching in the waiting room, so I thought, yeah, I’m never going to get this,” King says. “I saw Garcelle Beauvais in there, and Jill Marie Jones.”

To King’s surprise, she soon received a call from her agent telling her that she was on hold for the project and that she would be playing Zendaya’s mother. She was then immediately drawn into a chemistry class with Zendaya, who she describes as “really cool and relaxed.” And the rest, as they say, is history.

The second season of “Euphoria” premiered in January 2022 and the third season concluded in April 2026. During the long hiatus between seasons 2 and 3, King went home to Florida and helped her mother — a former postal worker — run her restaurant. Blue Tree Cafe vegan soul foodwhich has been operating in Fort Lauderdale since 2007. She also continued to perform sets at comedy clubs. During those sets, King talked about how fans kept coming up to her asking when “Euphoria” Season 3 would be released, joking that she “didn’t fucking know” and needed to come back because she “hadn’t paid my rent in six months!” The fragment went viral:

“As long as we were on a break, I made that joke. And it just happened to go viral!” says King. “It wasn’t even a finished joke yet; it was still being worked out in the lab. But everything happens as it should. It brought attention to the real journey of an actor. I’m not a celebrity or a superstar: I’m a working actor.”

King feels bad about how the joke was “misinterpreted” and taken literally by the media, compared to something she had clearly said in jest.

“I’m sitting in a comedy club telling a joke. It was a realization for me that I was on a different level in terms of visibility, and how a joke can be twisted and no longer reflect my creativity,” she says.

After the clip went viral, King was told she would not return for the third season of “Euphoria.”

“My contract option for the third year was terminated; they told me they were going in a different direction,” she says. “And then after they started filming season 3 last year, I got a call saying, ‘Hey, we want to invite you to do a few episodes.’”

A few phone calls and emails were exchanged, and a few days later King was on a plane to Los Angeles. She says she filmed for one day and shot material for two episodes, that is, she be able to pop up in another episode this season, although not exactly sure how much of her you’ll see.

“Sam is constantly rewriting and shaping episodes, and he’s always kept the scripts pretty secretive, so you don’t know what you’re filming until the day. So I don’t know,” says King. “But I love Leslie. I will ride or die for her. Everyone has a mother and is familiar with that dynamic. Leslie prays for Rue to get her shit together. And even though the storyline had jumped to the point where they are no longer in high school, I think the mother and the sister are crucial characters in regards to Rue’s sobriety and mental health.”

Today, King helps her mother run her vegan restaurant in Fort Lauderdale — they’re currently preparing for a summer program feeding about 400 children from underserved communities — and teaches acting at Kim Houston Acting Studios in nearby Hollywood, Florida. She is also preparing her second comedy special and would like to tackle more dramatic parts like Leslie.

“It’s such a great role and a great starting point for a dramatic career, so I want to play roles that are on the same playing field or level of storytelling,” says King. “Like stories about people overcoming major obstacles.”