Sam Trammell Explains Ellis and Jules’ Season 3 Relationship (Exclusive)

Euphoria‘s latest chapter continues to push boundaries as Season 3 introduced Sam Trammell‘s character Ellis, a John who has been employing Jules (Hunter Schafer) and keeping her at a top-notch apartment.

But things took a darker turn in Episode 5, “Little Piggy,” as Ellis got aggressive with Jules after uncovering Rue’s (Zendaya) boxers in the apartment. The plastic surgeon claimed he was fearful of STDs as he carries on this outside relationship while remaining married with kids, while continuing on with Jules. Below, Trammell, who previously starred in HBO’s former hit True Blood, breaks down his role so far in the series and reveals what it was really like to film that plastic wrap scene, among others.

Learn more in the full Q&A below, and catch more of Trammell in Euphoria as Season 3 unfolds on HBO.

What about Ellis drew you into the character, and what are we still learning about him? 

Sam Trammell: This part first came around February or March of last year, and the idea of getting to work with [Sam Levinson] and being in Euphoria, I just was really excited about it. This character was kind of sketchy; I couldn’t figure out what it was about. So, I put myself on tape, I read for it, and then heard nothing for months and months and months and forgot about it. I was on a vacation in late September and was in baggage claim on a Friday and found out I got this part on Monday, [and that] I would be naked for that scene that we saw with Hunter [in Episode 5]. I had been eating and drinking wine and not thinking about being naked on camera at all. So I had a very short time to prepare, but that’s how it came around. It was very surprising, but really exciting.

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How was Ellis described on the page, and how did he transform as you stepped into the performance?

I can’t remember the exact character description, but he’s a new John. Then it was just all in the writing, this guy who is very confident, but also very tentative and dipping his toe into some water that he hadn’t dipped his toe into before, [so he’s] a little nervous, but also he’s a plastic surgeon and that kind of ego that goes with it. When we shot that scene where you’re figuring out the character in Episode 3 at the club where we’re having dinner, Sam had me do that so many different ways. We were having so much fun, but he was pushing me to my limits in the best way. What he chose was just this scientific person who’s kind of objectifying [Jules] in a scientific way, looking at the body and imagining what he does and imagining what somebody else would have done.

What was it like building a connection with Hunter onscreen? Does Ellis’ family know about his arrangement with Jules?

I don’t think they know. I think he’s just trying to be nouveau or whatever. He’s protecting himself, really, and I think that his original thing is, this is just a sexual dalliance, but he starts falling for her, and I don’t think he wants her to know it, you know? He’s also very much a guy who’s all about power and having what he wants and keeping it in control, like keeping her in this place; he doesn’t have much of his stuff in it, he lets her have reign of the apartment. It’s her thing, but I control it, I pay for it, it’s where I’ve got rules, and I get really jealous when I find Rue’s boxers there. I blame it on STDs, but I think I’m really jealous, I think that’s what I’m worried about more. He’s got a big ego, and that’s kind of fun to play with.

As we see some of that controlling nature peek through with Ellis, should we be nervous for Jules? There’s somewhat of an overlap in how he treats her versus how Alamo Brown is treating Rue at the girls at the Silver Slipper.

That’s a great point. Ellis is kind of the more white-collar version of that, and with one person as opposed to many, but it is all about control, and I don’t know about him actually being dangerous, but I do think it’s uncharted territory for Jules to a certain extent. It’s at this extreme where she’s making this much money, and there are a lot of expectations that come with being paid for something. And what are you being paid for? I don’t think Jules feels endangered, and I feel like he’s a little unpredictable, and he does have a thing with power; his mood can just go on a dime and switch.

How do you get comfortable pushing boundaries in Ellis and Jules’ scenes, like with the plastic wrap? 

Hunter’s had to do nudity throughout, so she’s used to it. And I’ve done it so much, too, in True Blood, and so it was so easy, the sex scene, and then the [plastic] wrap… People don’t understand how rigorous that scene was for Hunter because it took like two and a half minutes. We ran out of film because it took so long for me to [wrap her in it]. Sam wanted me to do it slowly and film it from so many different ways, and she had to keep her arms up in this position, and it got really hard, I could tell, but she didn’t ever complain. She knew she was safe. The most difficult thing was having her arms up.

Euphoria, Season 3, Sundays, 9/8c, HBO and HBO Max