It is official. Barbie Ferreira is not returning to the third season of Euphoria. One of the breakout stars of the show, and a fan favourite, Ferreira played the role of Katherine "Kat" Hernandez, a teenager who fervently writes erotica on the down-low as she grapples with notions of desirability and bodily autonomy. While Euphoria has always been a story about misfits who don’t even fit among themselves, Ferreira was one of the core cast members of the show and with her gone, Euphoria will definitely be losing an interesting perspective.
Her role was drastically reduced in season 2, which is perhaps even more reason why she will be sorely missed in the next season(s). While nothing is confirmed yet about how they plan to write her off, the execution of it would matter a lot to fans. Zendaya has spoken about how season 3 should revolve around the characters heading off to college and exploring life outside the confines of their hometown and high school.
Will Kat just be that friend who drifts apart from everyone else post-high school? Or will she meet a far more definitive end? Since Ferreira is walking away amidst rumours of a falling out with the show’s creator Sam Levinson (which she has vaguely denied), there is a possibility of the show being less than graceful about bidding adieu to Kat’s character.
What Barbie Ferreira’s Exit Means
In a sea of (mostly) tall, thin bodies, it was refreshing to have a character like Kat’s who owned her body and sexuality despite having her bad days. Kat’s sass was as bomb as her wardrobe. Here we had a bodacious girl embracing her looks, going too far in her bid to find validation, and then reigning herself in, mostly without external help, unlike the rest of her friends. It was also quite novel to see a thicc girl not spend all her time suffering crippling insecurities, unlike in the cringe-fest that was Netflix's Sierra Burgess Is Actually A Loser. It was fun to watch Kat take charge and ownership over her own body. She spent the entirety of season 1 unlearning what the world had told her about herself. And then she fell right back into it all in season 2, in whatever brief moments she did get to show up.
While being plus-sized was only a fraction of what was interesting about Ferreira’s presence on the show, there is no denying that this representation mattered to the countless teens (and young adults) who turned this show into such a pop culture phenomenon. After two seasons and four years of playing the role, Ferreira penned an emotional goodbye to Kat while announcing her exit, where she wrote:
“I hope many of you could see yourself in her like I did, and that [it] brought you joy to see her journey into the character she is today. I put all my care and love into her and I hope you guys could feel it.”
Allegedly Ferreira and Levinson logged heads during season 2 over a storyline involving Kat’s descent into developing an eating disorder. Ferreira was apparently not okay with this direction and even walked out from the sets one day. Even if the rumours are all untrue – about their creative differences and Ferreira’s frustrations with it – the bit of time we do get to spend with Kat in season 2 did point to her struggling with body image issues. That scene where the ever-imaginative Kat encounters various supermodels and influencers spouting ridiculously contradictory nonsense in the guise of inspiration was very indicative of just this. However, it would’ve been a repetitive trajectory for Kat and, frankly, not very interesting in terms of storytelling.
In season 1, we saw Kat overcome some of her issues with her body and her perceived sense of self. She made progress by reconciling with the fact that she is attractive no matter what her size and then falling in love with the cutest boy (and potentially only non-problematic character on the show) in East Highland High, Ethan. While people often tend to self-sabotage and fall back into old patterns from time to time, there was perhaps a better way of going about it than Euphoria did with Kat.
This season mostly centered around Lexi, Cassie, Maddy, Nate, and his father, Cal. Rue is, of course, the protagonist, and perhaps there wasn’t much scope to flesh out Kat’s character satisfactorily enough. But it was frustrating to watch Euphoria ruin such a fascinating character just like that. Ironically enough, it’s almost like Levinson couldn’t figure out what else is there to Kat apart from her body and her probable insecurities surrounding it.
Beyond Euphoria
Euphoria may have been Ferreira’s breakout role, but this was not her first stint with HBO nor her first brush with fame. In the mid-2010s, Barbie ended up amassing an impressive following on her Tumblr blog, and this popularity eventually landed her multiple modeling gigs with major brands like Adidas, Asos, and Forever21. In 2016, Time magazine named her among its "30 Most Influential Teens" list.
In 2018, she played the character of Ella in the second season of the HBO dramedy, starring Sarah Jessica Parker and Thomas Haden Church, Divorce. In 2020, she played the role of Missouri teen Bailey, driving cross-country to help her friend get an abortion, in the buddy comedy Unpregnant. Since appearing in projects like The Afterparty, she had a brief role in Jordan Peele’s critically acclaimed Nope. She has other projects lined up already, so we can only hope she stopped needing the show way more than it was the other way around.
Ferreira will be next seen in the psychological thriller House of Spoils, along with West Side Story star Ariana DeBose. DeBose’s character is a farm-to-table chef who’s opened a new eatery on an isolated estate, where she has to face off with the evil spirit of the estate’s previous owner. Ferreira will be seen as her “hopeful but sharp-tongued” sous chef. The film will debut on Amazon Prime, but no release date has been declared yet.