Chloe Cherry Doesn’t Want to Be Taken (Too) Seriously

Euphoria creator Sam Levinson never intended for Faye to be a rare source of comedic relief on the reliably dark show. But when Chloe Cherry ad-libbed in character for the first time, the series’ funny woman was born. The lightning-bolt line? “You’re probably f*cking eating that ginger’s *ss for f*cking oxys or whatever the f*ck you’re into.”

“Sam was like, ‘Say whatever you want,’ and usually what I wanted to say was kind of ridiculous,” the 27-year-old says. But when her zingers began making the final edit, “it was incredibly validating, and honestly, it really improved my self-image forever to have people think I was naturally funny.”

Cherry is a former adult film star — a backstory that she has embraced as part of her lore — who landed the Euphoria role beginning in the second season after her Instagram caught Levinson’s eye. But, she says, she was raised on broadest-of-the-broad early 2000s comedies like Rob Schneider’s The Hot Chick and the Scary Movie films. Growing up in Pennsylvania’s Lancaster County, she longed to be the class clown.

“I remember I would have friends that were funny, and I would try to emulate how they were, but I realized that really doesn’t work,” she says. Cherry eventually discovered that it was when she wasn’t trying that she actually got the most laughs. “Sometimes the way that I would say things would just naturally come off as funny. I still feel like that holds up today.”

On-screen, this informal training translates to her super deadpan line readings that, when paired with her signature Y2K-inspired look — pleated miniskirts, cartoon baby tees, and overfilled lips — are pure gold. Cherry credits her former Euphoria co-star Angus Cloud, who died of a drug overdose in 2023, with helping her home in on this particular brand of comedy. “I don’t know if people understand how hilarious he was. He wasn’t necessarily telling a joke; he just was funny,” she says, citing the scenes where Faye would be in the room watching his character, Fezco, and Rue (Zendaya) fight as the times she laughed on set the hardest. “When I was acting with him, that made me also want to be funny without doing an over-the-top movie thing.”

Off-screen, Cherry’s go-girl-give-us-nothing energy has made her a modern-day It Girl. In the last few years, she made her New York Fashion Week debut on LaQuan Smith’s runway, became the face of SSense’s Versace campaign, and did literal lip service for Urban Decay. She also nabbed a seat at the ultimate cool table this spring: Charli XCX’s star-studded “360” music video alongside Julia Fox and Gabbriette.

In the video, a murderer’s row of viral icons comes together to anoint a “new hot internet girl.” “It was so fun to meet such cool girls that I’ve been following for so long. Everybody was so funny, but also so nice to each other,” says Cherry, who’s eager for more hangs with Bottoms star Rachel Sennott in particular. “I would love to work with her [on her new HBO show].”

Cherry’s new movie, The French Italian, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival this summer, allows her to flex her comedic chops in a whole new way. In the Search Party-esque indie, Cherry plays Mary, the raucous downstairs neighbor of Val (Catherine Cohen) and Doug (Aristotle Athari). After Mary and her boyfriend’s karaoke shenanigans force Val and Doug to move out, they decide to exact their revenge. How? By staging a fake play and inviting wannabe actor Mary to audition, of course.

“It was impossible to not break and laugh,” Cherry says. The role was a chance to take a page from the comedians she most admires: those who commit to the bit. “I really like Eric André. Nathan Fielder. I totally want to be in something directed by Bo Burnham,” she says.

Cherry’s career bucket list may be long, but she’s in no rush. She says she’s in the acting game for a long time, not just a good time. As for the kawaii aesthetic that helped rocket her to fame? Well, Cherry isn’t done evolving just yet. “I constantly think about rebranding. I’m like, ‘What if I just wore something with a completely different vibe?’” She tries to picture herself in her 80s, rocking all her girly, glitzy looks, and her eyes light up. “That’s so Betsey Johnson!”

Top image credit: Stylist’s own shirt, Sandy Liang skirt, Gianvito Rossi shoes, Talent’s own jewelry, Omega watch

Photographs by Amber Asaly

Styling by Stephanie Sanchez

Hair: Brenton Diallo

Makeup: Kabuki

Production: Kiara Brown

Talent Bookings: Special Projects

Photo Director: Alex Pollack

Editor in Chief: Lauren McCarthy

SVP Fashion: Tiffany Reid

SVP Creative: Karen Hibbert