Well beforeEuphoria , Hunter was already an accomplished militant in North Carolina .
1.Hunter Schaferstudiedvisual art at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and hascontributedcomics and drawings to Rookie Mag. Her work often uses ink and watercolors, and she occasionally shares it on her Instagram.
2.Hunter started her transition as afreshman, with the support of her family — including her father, who is a pastor. “After kind of coming to a consensus that this was a real thing, I was put on hormone blockers which pressed the pause button on puberty and gave me time to think about my identity,” shesaidin one interview when she was 17.
3.In fact, the reason why she was interviewed so often as a teenager was because she and her familyprotestedNorth Carolina’s now-repealed House Bill 2, which effectively banned trans people from using school and state bathrooms. Theyjoinedthe lawsuit filed against the bill with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union.
4.She subsequently wrote in apowerful essayfor Teen Vogue in 2016, “Every time I use a public bathroom, I have to make a choice: Do I break the law, or do I disregard my comfort and face the risk of harassment and violence? […] I’ve finally begun to accept myself as more than what is stated on my birth certificate. But a new law in my home state of North Carolina rejects all of this.”
5.Hunter was asemifinalistin the US Presidential Scholars Program, on theDazed 100list, andTeen Vogue’s 21 under 21 in 2017. Due to the latter, she alsointerviewedHillary Clinton, where she asked her about protecting trans and nonbinary rights.
6.Hunter has worked extensively as a model. Before her time onEuphoria, she walked therunwayfor designers like Marc Jacobs, Miu Miu, and Rick Owens. She also explored heractivismthrough her own fashion designs, such as a 2018 pair of underwear with peel-away embroidered hands that read, “Peel away every perception.”
7.Hunter had no acting experience beforeEuphoria.In fact, Hunter was planning on attendingfashion school in Londonafter modeling inNew Yorkfor a year. Shecreditsthe acting coach she was set up with during theEuphoriaaudition process with helping her fall “in love” with acting.
8.In fact, it was Hunter’s advocacy work thatallowedEuphoria’s talent scout Jennifer Venditti to find her through Instagram. Fellow casting director Mary Vernieusaidof her audition, “Hunter came in and won it in the room in a beautiful way. It was important that the character be very natural. Hunter had the experience — a lot of these kids are transitioning and going through this. She had never acted before. She could intuit what to do. Her performance is seamless.”
9.Hunter herselfinfluencedthe character of Jules. She also co-wrote and co-produced the episode “Fuck Anyone Who’s Not a Sea Blob,“sayingthat the episode came “out of the worst depression I’ve ever had, and needing somewhere to put all of that energy. When I say that episode really became a lifeline, I mean it.”
10.In 2021, Huntertweetedthat she is “like bi or pan or something.” Shepreviouslydated herEuphoriacostarDominic Fike.
11.The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakesis Hunter’s live-action feature debut, but shedid voicea character in the English dub of the movieBelle.
12.Hunter plays Tigris inThe Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.“So many people came in and read [for the role], [but] they were thinking more of Liz Banks’s Effie Trinket than they were of Tigris. They’re putting on this Capitol effect, and it’s just so phony,” director Francis Lawrence toldEntertainment Weekly. “Hunter came in and did the scene, and she was so endearing and warm.”
13.The Hunger Gameswas Hunter’s favorite book series in middle school. She evencreateda Capitol costume for Halloween and drewHunger Games-inspired graphic novels.
14.As a live-action movie ofThe Legend of Zeldawas announced to be in development, many fans pitched Hunter for the role of Zelda. “I love the game, personally. I played it as a kid, and I still play it now,” shetoldVanity Fair in response. “Who knows! That would be pretty cool.”
15.Finally, future films for Hunter include the horror movieCuckooand an A24dramacalledMother Mary, alongside Anne Hathaway and Michaela Coel.
