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She got into an art college in L.A. but dropped out before the first semester even started. Authority-averse by nature, Demie couldn’t bring herself to waste the next four years in a classroom. “I like the activities of school, but I like to do it on my own accord,” she explains. “So as soon as I got to the [college] orientation, and they were telling us what to do, I was like, I need to get out of here.” Instead, she threw herself into the grind of auditioning. Throughout her early 20s, Demie played small roles in shows like Ray Donovan and The OA, as well as Jonah Hill’s controversial indie flick Mid90s.
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and part of the
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"I literally grew UP WITH
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flooding our HOUSE."
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house."
it's a part of
so many other
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EPMIRE I WANT
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MY JOURNEY AND
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to create."
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It’s hard to keep track of the tricks Demie has up her glamorously adorned sleeves. “My philosophy is why wait around? Create your own thing. So that’s what I’m doing,” she says toward the end of our conversation, an almost mischievous confidence in her voice. “You’re going to be obsessed.”
it’s really exciting,” she says. Straying from the beaten path style-wise is Demie’s MO, and when it comes to her personal styling on photo shoots and red carpets, she’s choosing to collaborate with lesser-known designers (Di Petsa and Jono Cheong are a few indie favorites) to create custom looks. “I just like to play,” Demie smiles.
The actress is also hard at work flipping her fresh style-icon status
into a business. “A full-fledged fashion empire,” she laughs. “I love fashion. … It’s a part of my journey and part of the empire I want to create.” Though she’s keeping the specifics of her new venture hush-hush for now, she did give us a hint, saying, “It’s something I’m actively working on that you’ll see soon enough. Rather than waiting around to get picked as the face of an established brand, it’s like, why not create your own?”
“You just have to keep going, even if you don’t see the reward right away, because it’s going to come at some point,” Demie says, as if speaking to her younger self. “It’s all timing. The universe knows what it’s doing. You just have to trust it.” Demie would have to wait a few more years for the stars to align perfectly. After high school, she almost pursued a traditional fashion design education.
The Row jacket; Fendi High Collar Cotton Shirt ($950); talent's own shoes
The first is Waves, a heart-wrenching drama premiering November 15 in which she stars alongside Lucas Hedges and Sterling K. Brown. “It’s a powerful one. Very emotional,” Alexa says of the movie, her voice assuming a wistful timbre. “It’s completely different from my character in Euphoria. My character in Waves, Alexis, she’s much stronger than Maddy. I connected to her in a very personal way.” Even more personal is a project that Demie, true to character, is producing herself—a film based on her mother’s life as a teenager growing up in Los Angeles in the 1980s after emigrating from Mexico.
up with every
Demie
... but there are so many
“I don’t like being told what to do,” says Alexa Demie matter-of-factly. Wanting to be the boss of her own life is one of a few things the 24-year-old breakout star of HBO’s Euphoria has in common with her character, Maddy, the confident but emotionally damaged cool girl with an attitude. Demie can’t go to the grocery store anymore without getting accosted by admirers, but the fame that’s accompanied the meteoric Euphoria frenzy is not what interests her—it’s the power. “I’ve always known I wanted to be really successful and create whatever I want to create,”
Alexa
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"I love fashion.
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WRITTEN BY Amanda Montell
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Photographer: mark lim Stylist: Carolina Orrico HairStylist: Ryan Richman
Makeup ArTist: Raoul Alejandre Manicurist: Natalie Martins tailor: Isa Kriegeskotte
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states the L.A. native. Acting is in her DNA, she says, but it’s only a small piece of the epic, multipronged career she aspires to build. “I’m a musician, and I love fashion. And I want to direct and write my own stuff. There are so many other parts of me,” Demie effuses. “So now that that’s becoming my reality where I can take an idea to any … producer and have them be excited to make it, that part feels really good.”
"Acting is in my DNA
EVERY fashion magazine
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The nine-month filming process and overnight fame bonded the Euphoria cast tightly. “We feel really comfortable with each other,” says Demie, who, after our interview, was headed to an award show alongside Schafer. “We’re all very supportive of each other, which you don’t get a lot in Hollywood. It just makes us more excited to go back for another season.” (Euphoria season two hasn’t started filming yet, and despite my begging for spoilers, Demie remained tight-lipped.) What Demie can openly gush about are her upcoming film projects.
my journey
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Demie will executive-produce and star in the film, playing her young mom. “It was beautiful for us to do together because I feel like it helped us heal a lot of past mom-and-daughter pain and trauma,” Demie shares. “We’re still in development, and it’s going to be a process. … But it’s going to be fun. L.A. in the ’80s—it’s going to be amazing.”
She was also recording and releasing music. Her 2016 single “Girl Like Me” is a dreamy, Lana Del Rey–esque number. (Demie has sworn new music is currently in the works, too.) But Euphoria was the massive break, not just for Demie but for much of the young cast, including her pals Barbie Ferreira, Hunter Schafer, and Jacob Elordi, who plays her problematic on-screen boyfriend. “In real life, he’s one of the sweetest people,” Demie assures. “We’re all very close.”
Sounds like a fun stroke of luck for a teenager, but Demie launched the brand in part out of necessity. That’s another thing she shares with her Euphoria character: a tumultuous home life. Her mother had her young, and Demie didn’t get along with her stepdad. She says her childhood home was filled with scream-fights, so she moved out while she was still underage. She crashed on friends’ couches and had barely any money, but she says the tribulations were motivating.
Demie’s obsession with clothes developed long before her role in Euphoria. The daughter of a makeup artist, she says, “I literally grew up with every fashion magazine flooding our house.” Demie started capitalizing on her eye for design early. At 17, the scrappy Angeleno alchemized 20 bucks into an avant-garde sunglasses business that wound up garnering attention from celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez and Nikki Minaj (for whom she later worked as a costume design assistant on music videos).
other parts of me."
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For Demie, fashion is at the root of everything: her dazzling, feminine, showgirl-esque style on Euphoria instantly cast a spell on the youth of America, which was her plan all along. Demie worked with the show’s hair and makeup teams to design her character’s looks herself, hoping they’d inspire a nation of Euphoria cosplayers. (And they did. Googling “Maddy Euphoria outfits” yields over one million results.) “To see all of the girls and boys re-creating the makeup looks and wearing the outfits—
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PART OF THE
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it's a part of
The nine-month filming process and overnight fame bonded the Euphoria cast tightly. “We feel really comfortable with each other,” says Demie, who, after our interview, was headed to an award show alongside Schafer. “We’re all very supportive of each other, which you don’t get a lot in Hollywood. It just makes us more excited to go back for another season.” (Euphoria season two hasn’t started filming yet, and despite my begging for spoilers, Demie remained tight-lipped.)
What Demie can openly gush about are her upcoming film projects. The first is Waves, a heart-wrenching drama premiering November 15 in which she stars alongside Lucas Hedges and Sterling K. Brown. “It’s a powerful one. Very emotional,” Alexa says of the movie, her voice assuming a wistful timbre. “It’s completely different from my character in Euphoria. My character in Waves, Alexis, she’s much stronger than Maddy. I connected to her in a very personal way.”
Nina Ricci Panelled Single-Breasted Blazer ($2950), Long Wide-Leg Trousers ($1150), and shoes