Hunter Schafer Said She Wrote Her 'Euphoria' Episode Instead of Checking Into a Mental Hospital

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Hunter Schafer opened up co-writing and co-producing her special episode of Euphoria and the mental health experiences that inspired it. On The Tonight Show on January 20th, the 21-year-old actress told Jimmy Fallon that she had reached a low spot with her mental health when she was driving across the country and spending some time in North Carolina amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic last year.

"I have to be honest, I was not doing super well mentally at that time, you know, as quarantine has put a lot of us in that place," she said. "I had taken it upon myself to research mental hospitals in North Carolina. I was like, 'It might be a good decision to do that with where I was at.'"

When searching for institutions, however, Schafer said she quickly realized that "all of them had terrible reviews," and when Euphoria creator Sam Levinson called, she asked him for advice.

"Sam called me later that day and I was like, 'Sam, I've been researching mental hospitals for, like, two hours. Like, why do they all have terrible reviews? Like, I can't find any that are good,'" she recalled. "And he was like, 'Well, Hunter no one likes being at mental hospitals. No one is going to leave a good review for a mental hospital.'"

The conversation then shifted from a discussion about mental hospitals to a brainstorm of ideas for an episode and, as Schafer told Fallon, "I wrote the episode instead of going to that kind of institution."

Being able to put her "energy into something" was therapeutic for Schafer, but the star also made it clear that she doesn't want to discourage others who are struggling to seek the help they need. "I think mental hospitals are great if you need to go to them," she said, just as long as you don't "side with the reviews."

Schafer's special episode, titled "F*ck Anyone Who's Not a Sea Blob," will focus on her character Jules. According to Variety, the episode picks up where Season 1 left off, showing Jules celebrating Christmas and dealing with her decision to leave town alone after her plans to run away with Zendaya's character Rue fell apart.

You can watch the full trailer for the special episode below.

You can watch the episode on HBO Max on Friday, January 22nd at 9 p.m. ET or catch it later when it goes to air on Sunday, January 24th at the same time slot on HBO.