Euphoria's Jack Topalian Breaks Down Intense Nate Attack Scene and Working With Jacob Elordi

The climactic moments of Euphoria's season 3, episode 3 wedding episode delivered one of the show's most startling twists. During "The Ballad of Paladin," Nate (Jacob Elordi) finds himself under attack while carrying Cassie (Sydney Sweeney) over the threshold—an encounter that results in his toe being severed.

Jack Topalian, who portrays Naz, recently opened up about bringing those visceral scenes to life. Speaking with Page Six, he discussed the technical challenges of executing the sequence safely.

"There's a cutting of a particular body part that my character takes great pleasure in doing," Topalian explained. "The clippers that they gave me have pretty sharp edges. So I had to be really mindful of that, because at one point, I do put it around Jake's toe."

He emphasized the precision required during filming. "If I squeezed a little too hard, it would literally cut his toe. But, everything turned out well! There were no mishaps, no accidents," he noted.

When it came to the scene's physical demands, Topalian highlighted Elordi's hands-on approach. "That's [Elordi] really doing the struggling and the fighting and the falling and all of that."

Topalian characterized his co-star as "committed," "giving," and "prepared," noting a striking contrast between takes. "Between scenes, he's back to being Jacob," he said. "Obviously, he gets back into character really quickly. But once [the director calls 'cut'] even though he's been beaten and abused, he's still having a lot of fun. He's still cracking jokes and doing things like that."