==
|
==
| “ | She quickly realized that there are two kinds of people in the world. The people who sit in the chairs, with their feet in the foot bath. And the people who kneel in front of the foot bath. | ” |
| — Rue's voiceover[src] | ||
Madeleine "Maddy" Perez is a main character in the first and second seasons of Euphoria. Maddy also appears in the first season of The Idol. She is portrayed by Alexa Demie, while her 11-year-old counterpart is portrayed by Keilani Arellanes.
Maddy is Nate's on-and-off girlfriend and finds herself bearing the weight of Nate's emotions.
Biography[]
Early life[]
| “ | Maddy knew who she was from a very early age. For as long as Maddy could remember, everybody loved her. She never knew exactly what it was. She just knew that she had something special. Something intangible. Something immeasurable. And she had that fucking confidence. | ” |
| — Rue's voiceover[src] | ||
From a young age, Maddy frequently competed in beauty pageants to great success due to her high levels of self-confidence. However, after her mother saw a news report about a pageant coach being arrested as a child molester, she was prohibited from entering any more pageants. Despite initial protests (which involved refusing to eat for a week), Maddy began to realize that she enjoyed "not doing anything" and embraced her lack of desire for a career. While studying the rich women whom her mother worked for as an esthetician, Maddy decided that she wanted to become one of them in order to avoid being trapped in a strained, loveless relationship like her mother and father's. Her mother would often bring her to work, where she worked as an aesthetician, mainly washing people’s feet in the footbath. This is where Maddy would observe all the rich clients that would come, aspiring to be better than her mother. She realized that most of these rich women actually did very little or nothing. Young Maddy took note of their mannerisms, style, and interests.
At some point, Maddy entered a relationship with Nate Jacobs.
Maddy and Nate's relationship was tumultuous; they took multiple breaks, during which Maddy would often find herself hooking up with other guys including a DJ who said he opened for Calvin Harris, a stockbroker with a family, and a roller rink owner. She disliked Nate's volatile personality and feared that it would lead to him hurting her one day. Despite this, she knew she would continue loving him regardless of his actions, a fact that made her "sick to her stomach."[2]
At some point, she became a cheerleader in the East Highland cheerleading squad alongside Cassie Howard.
Season 1[]
Episode One: Pilot[]
Maddy complains to her friend Kat Hernandez about her body insecurities. Later that night, she drives Kat, BB, and Rue Bennett to a party hosted by her ex's friend, Chris McKay. She begins to flirt with another partygoer named Tyler Clarkson, and the two have sex in the pool in an effort to make Nate jealous. While doing that in the pool, dozens of people pull out the cameras to capture the odd moment. Nate sees them in the pool and goes into a jealous rage, going back inside and yelling at all the partygoers to leave the kitchen. Maddy is last seen in the episode sleeping in bed.
Episode Two: Stuntin' Like My Daddy[]
Maddy, Kat, Cassie, and BB walk the halls of East Highland High School while talking about McKay's party, frustrated that people think she hooked up with Tyler. Maddy lies to Nate that she blacked out when she had sex with Tyler. Maddy congratulates Kat on losing her virginity.
Nate gives Maddy a ride home from school and twice asks Maddy to take her out, which she is unsure of. Later that night, Nate takes her on a date. The two go bowling and kiss in the rain. Nate asks Maddy again if she remembers having sex with Tyler, which she continues to deny. Maddy is told by Nate that he doesn't believe her. Maddy is dropped off at home by Nate, and he gives her a present. She opens it, revealing it to be a set of pink lingerie. Upon holding it up, she says, "Ew."
Episode 4: Shook One’s Part 2[]
Maddy is seen at the carnival on the phone trying to locate where Nate is, telling him she is near the Ferris wheel. She and Nate briefly fight over the phone because Nate is annoying Maddy with his inability to find her; she exclaims that “You [Nate] always do this to me!” When Nate sees Maddy, he bluntly asks her why she is dressed “like a hooker.” This is where Nate reveals that his parents already don’t like Maddy, and he doesn’t need her embarrassing him in front of his family. He then commands Maddy to “go home and change,” which she doesn’t do while Nate goes back to his family’s chili stand. Cassie joins Maddy and tells her about what Chris McKay said at the Jacob’s chili stand. Maddy then asks Cassie if she wants to do molly (ecstasy), which she agrees to. They then buy some heroin hidden in two pretzels from Ashtray and snort it. They are then seen on the Ferris wheel together, laughing and high off ecstasy. Maddy is still high and then goes to the Jacob’s chili stand just in time for the announcement that the Jacob’s won the best chili for six years in a row. Maddy loudly and dramatically claps and keeps going after the crowd has stopped slowly walking towards the stand as the crowd and the Jacobs stare at her. She walks up to the chili bucket and pushes it over as Marsha Jacobs angrily calls her crazy. Maddy rebukes by calling her a c***. She then meets Nate in an alleyway, where he screams at her for embarrassing him like that. Nate then chokes Maddy with his hand as Maddy stares into his eyes. He does release her, but the red handprint on her neck stays. As Nate walks away, Maddy tells him she wants to ask just one more thing. And that thing was, why does he have a bunch of other dick pics that aren’t his on his phone? Nate refuses to tell her exactly why, just solemnly saying he’s going through a lot and he’s very confused right now as Maddy holds his head in her arms. However, Maddy looks up and is shown with a suspicious look in her eyes. Later on at home, she is seen looking at the red handprint Nate left and breaking down in front of her mirror. Rue’s voiceover explains that “it wasn’t the violence that scared her; it was the fact that after all that she would still love him.” This shows the deep tragic side of her relationship with him.
Episode 5: ‘03 Bonnie and Clyde[]
The episode starts with Rue’s voiceover about Maddy’s background and early childhood. It goes into young Maddy performing at countless beauty pageants, singing and dancing and winning while the other contestants looked at her with envy. Then everything fell apart when a coach was arrested for child molestation, and her mother prohibited her from participating in any further pageants. Maddy then realized she enjoyed not doing anything. It was always revealed that since Maddy was a child, her father was kind of a deadbeat, mostly lying on the couch drinking beer while pretending to hold down numerous different jobs. Her mother was the real breadwinner, working at a salon washing people's feet in the footbath, which Maddy observed when her mother would take her to work. “She quickly realized that there are two kinds of people in the world. The people who sit in the chairs, with their feet in the foot bath. And the people who kneel in front of the footbath.”
Fast forward later in the episode, Maddy comes to school wearing a dark black hoodie with the hood up and thick black sunglasses. This is to hide the hand bruising marks from when Nate choked her at the carnival. She woke up three hours early to apply as much concealer as possible to try and hide it. All the molly she did at the carnival resulted in a serotonin crash, leading to her not eating or drinking all weekend. The result was Maddy was found passed out and unresponsive by her teacher at her desk, leading to the paramedics coming. The paramedics then found the bruising all over her neck. Principal Hayes was informed and called Maddy into his office, now serious. Hayes told her to tell him who did this and that when he suspects abuse, he is required by law to report it. Maddy vehemently refuses to say who did it, but Hayes strongly suspects Nate of doing it. This leads to a full-on investigation into the incident, with Hayes calling in numerous classmates and interrogating them. No one really knows truly what happened, but BB does bluntly tell Hayes “Nate’s gay.” Another guy calls Maddy a crazy chick. Maddy’s mother is called to the office, where Maddy and her mother get in a heated argument about it. Maddy fully defends Nate while crying, while her mother insists on pressing charges and that “the son of a bitch needs to learn consequences.” Nate is taken out of class by police officers and sent to another office. Maddy sees Nate being escorted out by police and his parents, where he mouths/whispers “I love you” through the glass, and Maddy mouths “I know.” This shows that Nate, to some degree, did regret his actions and had a sweeter side even in the face of this very serious situation.
Maddy is then sent to the police station in an interrogation room, where she is seen having a full-on freakout and mental breakdown, throwing her drink at the glass where the detectives watch, and calling them “pigs. One female detective comes in and tells her she knows this is traumatic but that she has to cooperate and take off her hoodie or they will do it for her. Maddy screams at her, crying, and calls her a “bitch,” threatening to fight her if she comes any closer. Multiple police then cuff her hands and ankles as she struggles. She then stops struggling as the detective takes pictures of the marks, as she is feeling complete and utter defeat. All Maddy can do is stare forward. The fallout was swift; back at school, the whole school has to watch videos of abuse survivors talking, and Maddy is seen angrily sitting in class watching one of them, visibly shaken, sad, and angry with red eyes and messed-up hair and makeup. This shows that Maddy is pissed at everyone and everything now.
Maddy then asks Cassie if her “brain is all scrambled due to all the molly you took” when asked by Cassie about the dick pics on Nate’s phone. Maddy yells at Cassie, telling her to never spread rumors like that or she will fucking kill Cassie. Later at night Maddy gets in a huge argument with her mom over the situation and ensuing legal action. Maddy is screaming and crying about how Nate is the only one who has her back “in this fucked up world,” and that they love each other even if they have their toxic moments. Maddy’s mom fights back that Nate doesn’t really love her. Maddy brings up how her mom and dad live in the same house, but they don’t ever say a word to each other, and all her dad has ever done is sit on the couch since she was ten, and that she doesn’t want “this,” gesturing to her father on the couch, who is stoic and not saying anything. Maddy storms off in her car, frantically calling Kat, who is on a date and is unable to come and be with Maddy. Kat hangs up, ignoring Maddy’s pleas that she really needs someone right now.
Season 2[]
Episode 1: Trying To Get To Heaven Before They Close The Door[]
Three weeks have passed since the winter dance, and Maddy, along with Kat and Jules attend a New Years party. While at the party, she desperately needs to pee and has a desperate plea with Nate who was in the bathroom, making out with her best friend, Cassie. As Nate comes out the bathroom, Maddy runs in and pees, however seeing there is no toilet paper, she instead uses a hand towel to clear her bussiness and disposes of it in the bathtub, who she unknowingly didn't see Cassie hiding in there. As she was leaving, she gets into a long conversation with a party goer and drug dealer who tries to hit her up into hooking up, but instead the two decided to dance as the clock strikes midnight. As she decides to hang out with her friends, the night goes from good to bad as Nate gets violently assaulted by Fezco, which has Maddy worried and concerned about Nate.
Episode 2: Out Of Touch[]
As the night continues, Maddy still worried about Nate's wellbeing as she helped carry him to Kat's car to help him the hospital, she unknowingly leans on the support of Cassie. While Nate continued to recover in the hospital, Maddy thinks that Nate is trying to get back together with her as she and him begin to talk to one another again. Its also revealed that during the winter break, she managed to secure a job as a babysitter to a wealthy family, which she enjoys as she likes kids but the other part being is that she loved to go into the mother's walk in closet and cosplays as being rich by trying all her boss's clothing, purses, and even jewelry in the mirror while also taking pictures. She, however, cuts it out when she learns the parents are home.
| Note: This section is a stub. You can help Euphoria Wiki by expanding it. |
Personality[]
Maddy is illustrated as confident, emotional, and extroverted. She is rarely seen by herself and is always surrounded by friends, yet she seems close to Kat and Cassie. She is considered an ESFP MBTI type. She lives life to the fullest and is not afraid to have fun, as shown in her numerous party scenes.
Maddy grew up with parents who didn’t really understand her. Even after her mother banned her from beauty pageants her confidence never waivered. She realized how pretty she was at a young age, utilizing her looks to her advantage especially in high school. [3] Her attitude towards high school is that she goes for entertainment, not to learn. She gets involved in the drama or creates it.
Despite some of her negative traits, Maddy is known for her fierce loyalty to her friends and to her intermittent boyfriend, Nate, regardless of the circumstances. Maddy lacks a vocal filter and is straightforward and honest. She says what is on her mind and has no care what most think of her. Maddy defends her friends when others make rude remarks, showing care and sincerity in her actions. Similar behavior can be seen when arguing with Kat, as Kat had told Cassie that she and McKay will not stay together "forever," or when telling BB to "stop being a jerk for five minutes" towards Kat. Also, she informed Tyler that she is only having sex with him to make her "ex-boyfriend jealous." However, according to Kat, she's self-absorbed and unable to give up Nate. Also, contrary to stereotypes about popular kids, Maddy befriends and is supportive of Jules, who is transgender. Maddy likes to be the center of attention and be in the spotlight, owing to her childhood past as a beauty pageant contestant.
She often embraces her sexuality (has many one-night stands and has no problem asking boys out to dance/make out/kiss her) and has moments of compassion toward her friends and Nate. She also uses her sexuality to her advantage, such as receiving gifts.
Maddy has numerous bad traits: she is shown to be extremely selfish, lying about being sexually assaulted and helping Nate get out of a possible charge for hurting her. When she is in trouble, she is shown to be extremely emotional and dependent on her friends for comfort. Maddy can also be seen as immature and jealous. She and Nate both constantly use other people and act sexually towards them to make each other jealous. This can only be seen towards Nate, perhaps indicating that Nate brings the worst out of Maddy. This is even greatly shown in Season 2 when after finally breaking away from Nate, Maddy's more positive traits are shown as she decides to turn her life around and make money and wealth for herself, abandoning her goals of marrying a rich man and being there for her friends more, especially Rue, Lexi, Kat and everyone else. Her true personality ends up greatly contrasting with Cassie's, who herself turns into a more cruel, sadistic and abusive bully after she steals Nate from her due to her anger issues, which can be seen as a blessing as Maddy has at least managed to escape from two aggressive psychopaths in her life.
Physical appearance[]
Maddy is a short (5’3”) Hispanic/Latin-American teenage girl. She has dark, shoulder-length hair, full lips, tan skin, dark brown eyes, and a slight gap between her front teeth.
As a byproduct of her pageant years and as a physical aid to her confidence, Maddy is always seen in fashionable clothing. Usually, her outfits are two-pieced: a slim, flattering top paired with a matching bottom set. She often wears colorful, yet structured, graphic-styled makeup that complements her and her outfits, with sharp winged eyeliner being one of her staples. She maintains a sense of style both in school and at social events. Only in moments of despair does she deviate from her style.
Relationships[]
Family[]
Sonia Perez[]
| “ | It feels good to know that there's one person in this whole fucked up world who has my back! You think I want this?! You live in the same house and you don't even say one word to each other. That's the difference between me and you! | ” |
| — Maddy to her mom[src] | ||
Sonia, Maddy’s mother, is a prominent character in the early part of Season 1, though she retreats later in the season. In her appearances, Sonia demonstrates her love and encouragement for her daughter, but their mother-daughter relationship is complicated by Maddy’s boyfriend, Nate. When she finds out about Nate's abuse towards Maddy, Her mother decides to press charges, much to Maddy's dismay, which makes Maddy angry. Also, in Episode 5 of Season 1, it is shown that Maddy is portrayed as a frequent pageant winner, encouraged by her mother and father. They support her doing this until a child molester in the pageant business is ousted. Sonya forbids Maddy from competing after this. Although Maddy did not deal with the molester, Sonya wanted to protect her from any harm she could've potentially experienced. Maddy, however, gets mad at her mother for this and resents her for standing in the way of her dreams. Maddy also does not respect her mother's job and wants to instead be the person getting waited on.
| Note: This section is a stub. You can help Euphoria Wiki by expanding it. |
Ted Perez[]
Maddy is seen on the show to resent her dad for his alcoholism and lying about his ability to keep a job. She also talked about how her mother and father live in the same house and don't even talk. So, she might also resent her parents' dysfunctional relationship.
| Note: This section is a stub. You can help Euphoria Wiki by expanding it. |
Romances[]
Nate Jacobs[]
| Note: This section is a stub. You can help Euphoria Wiki by expanding it. |
| “ | It wasn't the violence that scared her, it was the fact that she knew no matter what he did, she'd still love him. | ” |
| — Rue's voiceover[src] | ||
Sometime in high school, Maddy started developing an attraction to Nate, which lasted a while before Nate finally asked her out. Their relationship started very positively: Nate gave flowers to her every day and loved her, and Maddy reciprocated. Maddy made sure she was a perfect girl for Nate: imitating porn stars selected to please him and pretending to be a virgin. As a result, Nate would buy her gifts like fur coats. However, later, the two created a habit of breaking up, during which Maddy slept with other men. Despite being conscious, Nate still loved her and the two always made up. Nate also liked to fantasize about using violence against men in a situation where Maddy's life was in danger.
Nate and Maddy both loved each other very much but their relationship is violent and toxic. Nate and Maddy were together for the majority of Season 1. In the last episode, Maddy and Nate seem to have broken up again. They started out by following their same pattern of making the other jealous. However, when Maddy and Nate started dancing together, Maddy told Nate that their relationship isn't healthy. Nate said he knows it isn't good for them.
She had a dysfunctional relationship with Nate's parents; before the carnival, he told her that his parents hated her. He told her to wear something less slutty, but while on MDMA she went to their chili stand in the same clothes. She pushed their chili pot from the stand and called his mother a jerk.
By Season 2, it's implied they have formally parted ways, although Nate is desperate to win her back.
Friends[]
Cassie Howard[]
| “ | You're a fucking coward, and I would've never done this to you... I would've never done this to you... | ” |
| — Maddy to Cassie[src] | ||
Cassie is one of Maddy's closest friends throughout the show. She could even be considered as Maddy's best friend. They're seen with each other throughout most of the series. She is also one of the only people who knew what was going on with Maddy and Nate's relationship in Season 1. They've been friends for a long time, as shown from the flashbacks to their freshman year in high school in several episodes. Their friendship took a turn for the worse when it was found out that Cassie was sleeping with Nate behind Maddy's back in Season 2 Episode 5 and it even gets worse when after that, Cassie slowly becomes an unhinged bully because of Nate as she is willing to use and exploit Maddy's trauma against her. It is not known if Maddy and Cassie will rekindle their friendship in Season 3, but, it is unlikely they will. It is even possible that Cassie might plan on her own revenge against Maddy in the future for beating her up and leaving her with Nate.
| Note: This section is a stub. You can help Euphoria Wiki by expanding it. |
Kat Hernandez[]
According to the Our Life play, Kat is Maddy's best friend; they presumably met in Jefferson Middle School, where they developed their friendship. Maddy was the one who noticed Kat's weight gain, and yet, she saw beyond her physique and popularity, treating her like an equal. The two are often seen together and Maddy even seems to grow to respect Kat more as the show progresses. When Maddy finds out about Cassie and Nate, it's Kat who she talks to. When Kat opens up about how she wants to break up with Ethan despite things being good on the surface, Maddy is there for her with advice.
| Note: This section is a stub. You can help Euphoria Wiki by expanding it. |
Barbara Brookes[]
Barbara Brookes (BB) hangs around Maddy a lot throughout the series. They seem to be good friends. Or at least BB tries to be Maddy's friend, with her seen hanging out with Maddy and Kat at times. They don't have many scenes alone together. They're both usually around a mutual friend when interacting. She got invited to her birthday party in Season 2 Episode 5. So she must value their friendship in some way. BB was even supporting Maddy as she chased Cassie while yelling things like "Maddy, beat her ass!" in Season 2 Episode 8.
| Note: This section is a stub. You can help Euphoria Wiki by expanding it. |
Jules Vaughn[]
| “ | I wish you could see yourself the way the rest of the world does. | ” |
| — Jules to Maddy[src] | ||
Jules and Maddy haven't been given much screen time together in the series. They're only seen with each other when in a room of mutual friends throughout the series. They went to the bowling alley in Season 2 Episode 2 in which Jules said "I wish you could see yourself the way the rest of the world does.", insinuating her having a fondness for Maddy and wishing Maddy could see how much she was worth. Maddy knew that the girl in the tape was Jules, which is part of why she wanted to hold on to it.
| Note: This section is a stub. You can help Euphoria Wiki by expanding it. |
Lexi Howard[]
Maddy and Lexi have a relatively good relationship. She's seen hanging around Maddy most of the series and she was invited to her birthday party alongside her sister Cassie in Season 2. Maddy also reassured her in the dressing room before her play started in Season 2 Episode 7, showing that she cares about Lexi. Also she is seen supporting her throughout her play in episodes 7 and 8 in Season 2
| Note: This section is a stub. You can help Euphoria Wiki by expanding it. |
Rue Bennett[]
Maddy and Rue have a close relationship. While she was driving to McKay's pool party and saw Rue walking outside, she was genuinely happy to see her and offered to take her to the party. They share an instinctive trust for each other, as shown by when Rue told Maddy that Cassie was f*cking Nate, Maddy believed her in a heartbeat.
| “ | Maddy has always liked Rue and has had empathy for her. She knows everyone's fucked up in their own ways and she doesn't ever want to judge her, so in that moment it's very easy for her to trust Rue. | ” |
| — Alexa Demie about Maddy and Rue | ||
Samantha[]
Samantha is the woman whose son Maddy babysits. Wealthy and carefree, Samantha is essentially who Maddy wants to be when she grows up. She looks up to Samantha and her life, viewing it as the one she would like for herself.
Appearances[]
Quotes[]
| “ | Dad, stop being a pervert! We're literally, like, all naked! | ” |
| — Maddy to her dad[src] | ||
| “ | I don't know. Do you think straight guys ever, like, watch gay porn? | ” |
| — Maddy to Kat[src] | ||
| “ | Yeah, I'm not supposed to be here right now, because I'm dressed like a hooker and none of you like me, but I just wanted to say congratulations. | ” |
| — Maddy to Nate and his family[src] | ||
| “ | I'm just saying, love is a million things. Sometimes it feels good and sometimes it doesn't. The one thing I know is that Nate loves me no matter what. He'd fucking kill for me, and I'd kill for him. It feels good to know that there's one person in this whole fucked up world who has my back. You think I want this? You live in the same house and you don't even say one word to each other. That's the difference between me and you. | ” |
| — Maddy to her mom[src] | ||
| “ | Out of sight, out of mind. | ” |
| — Maddy seeing Nate in her mirror[src] | ||
| “ | When you get older, don't be an asshole to girls you like. | ” |
| — Maddy to Theo[src] | ||
| “ | Did you know that I loved you? I'm not talking about obsession or fighting or fucking. I'm talking about love. Did you feel loved by me? | ” |
| — Maddy to Nate[src] | ||
| “ | You see, this is why I don't believe you when you make all of these promises, and you're like: "Oh, let's get back together, you're the only person in the world I care about. You're the goddess, and it's my fault for not treating you like a goddess. I promise, Maddy, I'll change, I'll grow, I'll be better. I don't deserve you, but I love you. Please when I move to college, move with me, marry me, have my babies..." | ” |
| — Maddy to Nate[src] | ||
Trivia[]
- In "The Next Episode", Maddy dresses up as Iris "Easy" Steensma from the 1976 film Taxi Driver.
- Maddy has an evil eye tattoo behind her right ear.
- Maddy's birthday is likely January 31, 2001. In "Stand Still Like the Hummingbird", which takes place in February 2019, Rue states that she saw Nate and Cassie kiss last month. In the same scene, the decorations from Maddy's party are still up from the previous episode, implying that the date of the night before was January 31.[4]
- It is implied that Maddy has a cat based on the cat tree beside her nightstand in her bedroom.[5]
- Inspiration for Maddy's jeweled makeup looks stemmed from Nina Simone's rhinestone look.
- Based on multiple social media posts by Alexa Demie, it is implied that Alexa does Maddy's makeup instead of the makeup crew.
- Sam Levinson and Euphoria's fashion designers thought that she was the type of girl who wears matching outfit sets. This would explain her denim outfit, carnival outfit, and mall outfit.
- Since Maddy's birthday is January 31st, she is an Aquarius.
Gallery[]
- See also: Category:Images of Maddy Perez
References[]
- ↑ Maddy is 17 years old in the first season of Euphoria, which takes place in 2018. 2018 minus 17 equals 2001, so she would have been born in or around 2001.
In "Stand Still Like the Hummingbird", Rue mentions that she saw Cassie and Nate get together "like a month ago", "right after New Year's". The decorations from Maddy's birthday party have not yet been removed, implying that this revelation occurs the night after. Through Rue's usage of "a month ago", we can assume that this revelation also occurs in February, so the earliest that Maddy's birthday can fall is February 14. - ↑ "'03 Bonnie and Clyde"
- ↑ https://www.charactour.com/hub/characters/view/Madeline-Perez.Euphoria
- ↑ "Stand Still Like the Hummingbird"
- ↑ "A Thousand Little Trees of Blood"