The lights of East Highland are getting a Catalonian glow. Rosalía is making the leap from the stage to the screen, joining the cast of HBO’s cultural phenomenon Euphoria for its long-awaited third season. But she’s not just showing up, she’s bringing new music with her.
The Grammy-winning artist will appear as a pole dancer in a club central to the season’s drama, a role that demanded vulnerability far beyond anything she’s experienced in front of arena audiences. Season 3 premieres April 12 on HBO Max, and anticipation is reaching a fever pitch.
This isn’t Rosalía’s first brush with Euphoria’s world. In 2021, she collaborated with Billie Eilish on “Lo vas a olvidar,” a haunting track written for a special episode of the series. Now she steps directly into the frame, working intimately with creator Sam Levinson and sharing scenes with Zendaya.
The role required her to shed her performer’s armor. “It consisted of a lot of reacting and staying fluid and open,” she told Elle. “Many times, my job is about that: how I can make myself available so my energy can flow, to channel different emotions and tell different stories”.
What makes this casting truly extraordinary is the creative synchronicity that emerged during production. Levinson confirmed to Vogue that Rosalía contributed original tracks to the season’s soundtrack, joining forces with Hans Zimmer and Labrinth. “We have a couple of original musical tracks for the series, made by Hans Zimmer, Labrinth, and Rosalía,” he revealed .
But the connection runs deeper than a soundtrack credit. While filming, Rosalía played Levinson her then-unreleased album LUX. His reaction was visceral. “He was crying, and it shocked me,” Rosalía recalled. “I somehow felt that it was a sign that I was on the right path, because that’s how I made this album. I recorded it in tears” .
Levinson described the experience as transcendent. “When I first heard LUX, I was deeply moved. The song ‘Divinize’ particularly struck me. She created a truly transcendent work of art”.
The parallels between her music and her character surprised even Rosalía. “There was a bridge, which surprised me… There was a connection I didn’t expect,” she shared with Vogue. Levinson echoed the sentiment, noting that their conversations about her album and Season 3 revealed “thematic and religious alignment” neither anticipated .
This alignment manifests physically in the character’s distinctive look. In the trailer, Rosalía appears briefly but memorably, dancing around a pole wearing a glittering orthopedic collar, an accessory that became a personal challenge. “I have to wear this throughout the entire episode,” she explained. “At first, when I was filming with it, I was a bit annoyed. So I had to learn to love it and live with it. That was also a learning experience for me in many ways” .
The third season arrives after years of anticipation, bringing back core cast members including Zendaya, Hunter Schafer, and Jacob Elordi while introducing fresh faces. Rosalía joins a roster of newcomers that includes Trisha Paytas, Natasha Lyonne, Danielle Deadwyler, and Eli Roth .
For Rosalía, stepping into this world meant confronting fear in unfamiliar territory. “My first acting job in a series and Euphoria on top of that? I’ve always performed on stage, but this was scary in a very, very different way” .
The season premieres just as she launches her LUX TOUR, which begins March 16 in Lyon, France. Between arenas and soundstages, Rosalía is proving that her creative ambitions refuse to be confined to any single medium. For fans of both the artist and the series, April 12 can’t come soon enough.
