Euphoria's Hunter Schafer Has Had A Stunning Transformation

Hunter Schafer's life and career is truly inspiring. The star, best known for her modeling career and roles in "Euphoria" and "The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes" evolved from a confident teen who bravely took a stand for transgender rights, to a hugely successful model and actor who uses her visibility to draw attention to injustice.

But Hunter's journey to stardom hasn't been the easiest. She's felt plenty of pressure with the eyes of the world on her. "I've been through a lot of things that force you to grow up pretty fast," she told GQ. "And whether it's the transness or the fame, both of those are big things ... I can't just wing this s**t. I really have to be intentional about the way I'm moving in the world." Still, while so many people may have buckled under the pressure of advocacy and representation in the spotlight, Hunter has thrived, and undergone a truly stunning evolution along the way. 

Hunter Schafer was born in New Jersey in 1998. Hunter was assigned male at birth, but her parents, Katy and Mac Schafer, told WUNC they noticed she showed a preference for toys and hobbies traditionally enjoyed by young girls starting around age 2. "I've always had this persistent need for femininity and expressing that — like ever since I was a teeny, tiny toddler," Hunter recalled.

Because Hunter didn't feel aligned with her body as a child, she told Harper's Bazaar she preferred not to speak much about her childhood, even with her inner circle. "I feel like the story of my life begins in my late teens, when I was finally living in the world the way I was supposed to," she said. "When your exterior world and your body and your self are not in line with who you are, you turn inward," she explained.

In seventh grade, Hunter Schafer came out as gay, the catalyst for her discovery that she was experiencing gender dysphoria. "[Coming out] set me apart enough for me to think about what else set me apart," she told WUNC. But her journey wasn't without heartache, even though the celebrity's parents were supportive of their trans child. "Hunter was just really struggling inside, and the anxiety was coming out," Katy said. "I remember there were lots of tears."

Even with so much going on in her young life, the future star didn't act out like so many teens struggling with their identity. When asked by i-D in 2022 what advice she'd give to her 16-year-old self, Hunter said, "Be more stupid then. So that you don't have to go through the learning about being stupid phase in your 20s. I was decently behaved when I was 16. And I kind of wish I was less well behaved."

At 17, Hunter and her parents shared their story with WUNC, and Hunter explained she had no problem with people knowing she was assigned male at birth. "I do like people to know that I'm not a cisgirl because that's not something that I am or feel like I am. I'm proud to be a trans person," Hunter said. "I just feel like I don't really need to be put in the male or female box."

In 2016, Hunter Schafer penned a passionate piece for Teen Vogue about North Carolina's controversial House Bill 2, which forced people to use bathrooms according to their gender assigned at birth. "It's a devastating piece of legislation that also banned anti-discrimination protections for the state's entire LGBTQ community," wrote Hunter, who's repeatedly taken activism to the next level. She went on to become a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the bill. At 18, the young activist even asked Hillary Clinton about her thoughts on the bill in an interview for Teen Vogue.

The attention Hunter received at such a young age made it clear she was destined for more than an under-the-radar life in North Carolina. She told Marie Claire she'd known since middle school she wanted to leave her hometown and make her fashion dreams come true in a big city. Her plan was to head across the pond to London's Central Saint Martins college and study fashion design.

After meeting with Elite Model Management in New York, however, she was signed as a model and moved to the Big Apple. "She's enjoying it," Hunter's dad Mac Shafer told The News & Observer. But that was an understatement. Though it takes a lot of models some time to find their feet after moving to a new city, it wasn't long before Hunter was working with huge brands. By 2018, the beauty was walking the runway for the likes of Christian Dior and Marc Jacobs, bringing more inclusivity to the fashion industry as a transgender model.

Though Hunter Schafer's focus had always been on fashion, she threw caution to the wind in 2019 and tried her hand at acting. Her decision was as much influenced by finances as intrigue. "I worked with some of my favorite designers on the planet, but I never really made a lot of money. I was living paycheck to paycheck," Hunter told Marie Claire.

Fate stepped in when she saw a TV casting call on social media. "It was for trans girls, who didn't have to be experienced," Hunter recalled to Entertainment Weekly. But while Hunter made her interest known, she didn't truly know if she wanted to make the career pivot. "I didn't think acting was my calling or anything. It wasn't my plan," she said on the "Call Her Daddy" podcast.

Despite never acting before, Hunter landed the role and her life changed forever. On "Euphoria," she appeared alongside A-list actors Zendaya and Sydney Sweeney. The HBO series brought Hunter huge notoriety. "From the airing of the first episode to my first million followers on Instagram, it was, like, a month," she told Elle. But Hunter wasn't just a member of the "Euphoria" cast — she also played a big part in shaping her transgender character, Jules Vaughn, based on her own experiences. "It was really important to me that [creator Sam Levinson] would listen to us and be collaborative. And he has been all that and more," she told Entertainment Weekly.

Though Hunter Schafer was one of the hottest names on everyone's lips in 2020, her career stalled when the world shut down amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Ahead of Season 2 of "Euphoria," Hunter moved to Los Angeles to be close to filming, but found herself isolated in the unfamiliar city when production halted. 

"I remember having a moment where I knew that something was wrong. I knew I needed help," the model and actor told GQ. She decided to return to North Carolina to be with her sister and ride out the pandemic. Thankfully, she also took care of her mental health during the forced work break. "It got dark, but I confronted a lot," she said. While in her home state, Hunter allowed her creative juices to flow and even wrote an episode of "Euphoria."

Speaking on "The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon" in early 2021, Hunter further opened up about how tough she found the unprecedented time. "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 (via E! News). Hunter even began looking into local mental health hospitals. "I was like, 'It might be a good decision to do that with where I was at,'" she said. However, the model turned actor ultimately didn't check in, instead using writing as her outlet.

If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.

In 2021, following a difficult time when the world slowed down, Hunter Schafer found herself firmly back in the spotlight as the world began to return to normality. Though she had worked with big names as a model before, she was now landing gigs as the face of huge brands, including Prada and Shiseido. Speaking to HypeBae about her collaboration with the latter, the in-demand star said, "Ever since joining the partnership and getting to play with the products more, I feel like my experience and comfort with makeup has evolved in its own way."

By May 2021, "Euphoria" had resumed filming, and the show's popularity grew even more when the second season aired. "It's strange, because I thought it would kind of level off after Season 1, but Season 2 felt like it doubled in size," Hunter told Elle. Despite such huge success on the small screen, though, Hunter still felt more comfortable referring to herself as a model rather than an actor. "I don't know if I can call it 'my craft' yet," she told Vanity Fair. "Acting came into my life as a surprise. It's drastically different from how I've expressed myself for most of my life, meaning I'm still adapting and learning what acting is."

In 2022, Hunter Schafer entered the world of movies. Determined to seek out roles different to her character on "Euphoria," she landed a spot in the horror flick "Cuckoo." "[I] really fought for this role, and thankfully got it," she told Teen Vogue. But she was initially apprehensive about working on a movie set. "I was nervous that I wouldn't be able to deliver the same kind of performance with completely new people in a new country, on a new set, and on a completely different format of filmmaking,"  she told GQ. "There were these barriers that I felt like I had to break."

Still, the talented star's hard work paid off, and her new career started to feel fun. "Now that I've figured out the craft of acting and it's not this terrifying thing that I feel like I've been thrown into, I get it. I can really find some levity and some joy in it," she told GQ. The dark movie was released in 2024.

That wasn't the only new career move Hunter made in 2022, as she also tried her hand at directing. The North Carolina native went behind the camera to create a music video for the Girl in Red track "Hornylovesickmess." Hunter shared stills from the avant-garde project on Instagram and wrote in the caption, "my first time directing! thank u for trusting me: marie & team, somesuch, and all of the cast and crew."

Though Hunter Schafer wasn't quite ready to consider herself a full-time actor in 2023, her resume said otherwise. She added another arrow to her thespian quiver when joined the cast of the "The Hunger Games" prequel, "The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes." The star was also making major waves on the red carpet, with outfits that proved Hunter's style icon status. The fashionista's evolving looks rivaled her "Euphoria" co-star Sydney Sweeney's style transformation. She had jaws on the floor at the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party when she slipped into one of her most daring looks ever, a revealing Ann Demeulemeester ensemble. 

The barely-there top featured a white feather on a thin strip of material, which Hunter paired with a low-rise, white satin skirt. She caused such a stir in the eye-catching garment that, at the time of this writing, PopBase's social media post featuring a photo of her on the red carpet had amassed more than 22 million views and 256,000 likes on X.

In her personal life though, things weren't quite so rosy. Hunter and her partner of more than a year, Dominic Fike, split that July. He confirmed their split in an Apple Music interview, saying, "I'm just done being in relationships right now." Hunter spoke about the tough breakup on "Call Her Daddy" the following year, admitting, "It was so, so hard because we really loved each other, you know. He's a really special person and I love his soul and everything." She then added, "It was messy."

By the time 2024 rolled around, Hunter Schafer knew better than ever what she wanted for her career. Speaking on "Call Her Daddy," she said she'd realized her passion lay in movies more than TV. "I feel like I did TV and that was such a great intro to acting, but since moving into films, I realized I love the film format so much more," she said. "I was really under the impression with myself that I was not going to do TV again after 'Euphoria' is over," she added, noting that she made an exception for the sci-fi miniseries "Bladerunner 2099." 

Hunter's plans to avoid TV gigs didn't play out exactly the way she expected, but she also set her sights on changing other aspects of her career. Speaking to GQ, she said she didn't want to be described primarily as a transgender actor or limit herself to playing only transgender characters. "I don't want to be [reduced to] that, and I find it ultimately demeaning to me and what I want to do. I worked so hard to get to where I am, past these really hard points in my transition, and now I just want to be a girl and finally move on," she said. 

Hunter also told the outlet she wanted to take on more directing and writing gigs. She shared a similar sentiment with Vogue, explaining, "I feel this constant desire to put more energy into stuff behind the camera."

Though Hunter Schafer had big dreams beyond TV work, she still returned to "Euphoria" for Season 3 when the series resumed filming in early 2025. "It's really nice," Hunter told Entertainment Tonight. "It's where I learned to act and write and, really, [it] introduced me to the film world. So it was kind of like a little homecoming, which was really sweet," she said. The star was also asked about a potential big new role after Marvel fans suggested she play the X-Men character Mystique. "That would be cool. These fan casts come around every once in a while and it's always very sweet," she said.

But the actor was also still fighting for what she believed in. In a poignant TikTok video posted in February, Hunter shared that when she replaced her passport, the sex listed had been changed to male without her consent. "I was shocked," she said. "[I]t's not just talk, this is real and it's happening. And no-one, no matter their circumstance, no matter how wealthy or white or pretty or whatever is excluded." 

Hunter linked the change to an executive order President Donald Trump had initiated the month before which said the federal government would only recognize sex assigned at birth. "It was just important to share what was really happening," Hunter told Extra. Her video proved that, as far as Hunter has gone in her career and as much notoriety as she's gained, her fight for equality will always be at her core.