‘Euphoria’ Star Martha Kelly Breaks Down Laurie’s Death (Exclusive)

Euphoria may be over, but the stars are still unraveling their stories as they offer fresh insight to their onscreen endings, and one of Season 3’s most memorable was certainly Laurie’s (Martha Kelly). Warning: Spoilers for the Euphoria Season 3 finale ahead!

The drug lord found herself surrounded by the DEA and made a deadly decision to escape capture by scaling the roof of her desert farmhouse, only to jump, hanging herself before she could be captured. Kelly opens up about her character’s shocking demise and her reaction to watching the rollercoaster ride of an episode and reveals how Laurie would feel about Alamo’s fate in the Q&A below.

How did you feel about Laurie’s ending when you read the finale script?

Martha Kelly: I was initially really disturbed by it. I kind of thought it would be fun if she was in a shootout or something. I think suicide is inherently really disturbing to pretty much everybody, even if it’s someone who is a bad person like Laurie. But the actual shooting of it was really fun, weirdly.

What was the fun of putting that scene together?

Lisa Dempsey is the stunt person who did the actual running across the roof ’cause I’m afraid of heights, and so they had her do everything except the things where they needed close-ups of Laurie’s face, and she’s fantastic. She also did the actual jump, and then I just did the part where Laurie steps up onto the ledge. Then we shot stuff where I was hanging… That was so fun because by that point I felt very secure on the wire. Even now, I’m like, get me back up on a wire; it’s so fun because you feel like you’re flying. So that’s why shooting it was fun, everyone giving me a huge amount of credit for being a big baby who’s afraid of heights, and then getting to feel like a minor hero for being like, no, I’ll do it. The stunt people and the coordinators and everyone were so professional and super safe, so, it ended up being fun.

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Why does Laurie choose death over prison in that moment?

I think that she is a sociopath and a narcissist who can’t handle the idea of being controlled by other people, being powerless, helpless in prison, and I think that it’s implied heavily in Season 2 that she’s engaged in human trafficking with kids, and so people like that often, I think, are really targeted in prison… as I’ve learned from Law & Order: SVU. So, I think she dreads the idea and doesn’t think they have any chance, which they didn’t. She didn’t know that the drugs were not in the ambulance.

Who does Laurie blame for the situation, do you think? Is it Alamo or Rue (Zendaya) because she was working with the DEA?

That’s really interesting, and I hadn’t even thought about that. I mean, sadly, she probably does blame Rue. Although in my opinion, Laurie is the cause of all of her own [suffering]. All the things that happened to her in Season 3, Paladin being killed and ultimately her death is because she picked a fight with Alamo, who she knows is an extremely dangerous person. If Laurie hadn’t hunted Rue down and made her be a drug mule… the DEA coming into Laurie’s life is because she just put all this effort in [to find Rue]. At the end of Season 2, she could have simply been like, well, I dodged a bullet, we’re going to sell drugs out here in the desert and not even look for Rue. She brought all of this on herself.

Would there be any satisfaction for Laurie in knowing Alamo ultimately paid for his crimes at the hands of Ali?

I think she would want that. I think her desire to get the better of Alamo overrode her limited capabilities as a drug lord. She was so intent on getting the best of him, not even realizing she’s not qualified [and] kind of dumb. So, I’m sure she would still be like, well, at least he didn’t get away with it.

What was your reaction to watching the episode on finale night? 

I feel two different ways about it. One is in the context of the show; the whole series shows that life isn’t really fair, there’s not really justice.

It’s so satisfying that Ali carries out justice against Alamo, but that doesn’t make it right, doesn’t make everything work out. So I think Faye and Wayne getting away is just like, yeah, sometimes the Nazis, the terrible people, just get away with everything, but on a personal level, I love Chloe Cherry and Toby Wallace so much as people that I was glad that they didn’t die.

Everybody’s sad about Rue dying, and a part of me is sad that she died because of the character, and also because Zendaya is such a lovable person that they sort of overlap, you know? I have personal attachment, not necessarily personal close relationships, but real attachments to these actors that I’m a fan of.

We know that in a past life, Laurie had been a teacher with a somewhat stable life before she fell into the world of drugs and trafficking. Do you think that past version of her could have ever imagined this ending for herself? 

I think that most addicts don’t think that they will suffer consequences. I think most people go into dabbling with addictive drugs like opiates, thinking they’re gonna be able to dip in and out. I think everyone starts out [thinking], I’m doing it in moderation. There’s no belief that it’ll end with the worst-case scenario. I don’t think she would think that would have ever happened to her, but I also think she was inherently a sociopath, a narcissist, so, even as a teacher, she probably wasn’t very compassionate to her students, and as a wife and mother probably was somewhat not emotionally present with her family. I’m sure if she had a crystal ball and could see all that happened from her addiction, she’d still blame other people.

Euphoria, Seasons 1-3, Streaming now, HBO Max 

If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or dial 988. If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.