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Euphoria’s Barbie Ferreira to star in drag king comedy The Young King

Ferreira will star in the comedy drama film alongside Kiersey Clemons and Michael Shannon.

By Emily Maskell

Barbie Ferreira
Barbie Ferreira in Euphoria (Image: Eddy Chen/HBO)

Though she’s reached the end of Euphoria, this is only the start of Barbie Ferreira’s acting career. 

The 25-year-old, who rose to fame in HBO’s teen drama Euphoria, is set to star in the 90s drag king comedy drama, The Young King.

Ferreira will be joined by Kiersey Clemons and Michael Shannon in the “incredibly emotional father-daughter story,” Variety reports.

Larin Sullivan’s directorial debut will follow Clemons’ character Jules, an aspiring drag king who ventures to Las Vegas to make a debut performance in America’s biggest drag king revue as well as reconnect with her estranged dad Mick (Shannon).

Mike is a dedicated gambler and part-time children’s party clown, who’s not thrilled to see his daughter don masculine suits – he’d rather continue to chase no-nonsense dancer Ronnie (Ferreira).

Production is set to begin in early 2023, GLAAD was one of the project’s supporters.

Both Ferreira and Clemons identify as queer.

David Garrett, Mister Smith Entertainment CEO, said: “We are delighted to present Larin’s fresh twist on a classic Vegas story by shining a light on the drag king scene, which has rarely, if ever, been explored on the big screen.”

“Led by our stellar cast, this is an incredibly emotional father-daughter story that will resonate with buyers and audiences,” Garrett added.

The upcoming film will feature original music from Justin Tranter, who has written a whole host of pop bangers in his time including: Justin Beiber’s ‘Sorry’ and Britney Spear’s ‘Invitation’ as well as tracks for Ariana Grande, Selena Gomez, Kesha and Camila Cabello.

Ferreira announced her departure from Euphoria ahead of season three, she played fan-favourite Kat Hernandez.

“After four years of getting to embody the most special and enigmatic character Kat, I’m having to say a very teary eyed goodbye,” Ferreira’s message read, “I hope many of you could see yourself in her like I did and that she brought you joy to see her journey into the character she is today.”

“I put all my care and love into her”, she continued. “I hope you guys could feel it. I love you Katherine Hernandez.”

Ferreira offered no exact reasoning as to why she is departing from the show, however, there have long been rumours circulating that the actor has had on-set disagreements with show creator Sam Levinson on the direction he wanted to take her character.