Alexa Demie is shutting down rumors that she plans to retire after season three of Euphoria.
Speculation that 35-year-old Demie — who has played Maddy Perez on the hit HBO series since its premiere in 2019 — started to swirl after a clip resurfaced from a 2020 podcast episode where Demie questioned whether there was space for Latina actors like her in Hollywood.
However, she explained to The Hollywood Reporter in an interview published Sunday that she does not plan to stop acting anytime soon.
“It’s like, did you ever think that I don’t want it?” she said about rumors regarding her future in Hollywood. “People really take the authority out of your hands. What happened to my ability to choose? I like my life like this, and I wouldn’t change it.”
Theories that Demie intended to stop acting in recent years were only furthered by her sparse list of acting credits, especially in comparison to her Euphoria co-stars that have taken over the industry, including Zendaya, Jacob Elordi and Sydney Sweeney.
But Demie told THR that her relaxed schedule does not mean that her ambition is slowing — it only means that she is selective about the projects that she chooses to get involved with.
“There are goals, and things that I want, but I’m choosing to keep that private,” she said.
With 15 acting credits to her name on her IMDb page, Demie notably starred in Jonah Hill’s directorial debut Mid90s in 2018 and coming-of-age drama Waves in 2019, both of which were distributed by A24.
She told THR that she initially struggled to come up in the industry because casting calls were rarely looking for actors with Hispanic backgrounds.
“I was sick of going into those rooms, and this was during that time when you’re young and every few months you’re just like, ‘I’m quitting, I’m quitting,’” she said. “But knowing me, I never would have quit. I’m more of the energy of like, ‘No, I’m going to show you I can do it.’”
The actor said that her role in Euphoria was the first she was truly excited to perform — and that it forced her to come out of her shell.
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“If I didn’t have that experience, I’d be hiding up there like Enya,” she said, referring to the reclusive Irish singer. “But that life is always there for me, and what I’m learning is that I can have both.”
The season three finale of Euphoria airs on HBO tonight, May 31 at 9 p.m. Eastern.
