Angus Cloud never planned to be famous. He was simply walking with a friend down a street in Manhattan one summer night in 2018 when Eléonore Hendricks, a veteran scout who was casting for the new HBO series Euphoria, saw him. As she explains to the BBC, it was after 10pm and she wasn't technically working, but as soon as she noticed the then-20-year-old Cloud, the character of Fezco "Fez" O'Neill, which hadn't yet been cast, "crystallized" in her mind. Cloud went on to play the part for two seasons before his untimely death this week at age 25.
As Hendricks explains, the character of Fez was written to be a drug dealer, but also "someone who is streetwise and has a certain swag, and also someone you could trust and feel safe with," and she could tell Cloud had what she was looking for. He was working at a chicken-and-waffles restaurant at the time and initially worried Hendricks might be scamming him, he later said in interviews. But he reached out, auditioned, and impressed everyone. The role of Fez, originally not meant to be a series regular, was extended thanks to his popularity with viewers, with the BBC and other outlets describing him as the series' breakout star.
Now, his costars are mourning his death, the AP reports. "I know people use this expression often when talking about folks they love…'they could light up any room they entered' but boy let me tell you, he was the best at it," Zendaya wrote on Instagram. "Words are not enough to describe the infinite beauty that is Angus (Conor). I'm so grateful I got the chance to know him in this life, to call him a brother, to see his warm kind eyes and bright smile, or hear his infectious cackle of a laugh (I'm smiling now just thinking of it)." Sydney Sweeney posted, "Angus you were an open soul, with the kindest heart, and you filled every room with laughter." People rounds up more reactions here. (More celebrity death stories.)