Jacob Elordi’s character Nate gets his toe cut off in a brutal wedding-night assault in “Euphoria” Season 3, Episode 3, as Cassie’s $50,000 floral demand and the show’s lavish production collide with escalating debt-driven violence.
The scene, which unfolds after Nate and Cassie (Sydney Sweeney) exchange vows, sees fresh character Naz — played by Jack Topalian — send a henchman to beat Nate before slicing off his toe with clippers, a prosthetic used for safety during filming. Topalian told Page Six he had to be “mindful” of the sharp edges, noting that squeezing too hard would have caused real injury, though no accidents occurred.
Nate owes Naz over $500,000 and has repeatedly delayed payment, a tension that builds throughout the episode as he ignores Naz’s calls while experiencing a panic attack before the ceremony. After the wedding, Naz crashes the reception, declares Nate will be his “worst nightmare,” and follows through by orchestrating the assault in the couple’s mansion.
The henchman was portrayed by former NFL player and Super Bowl champion Matt Willig, whom Topalian praised as “a gem of a person” and “an amazing actor” who handled the physical brutality while his character remained detached, saying, “I’m not going to obtain my hands dirty — but I’m going to get my money, one way or another.”
Filming the sequence took “a few days,” involving Nate being thrown against walls, dragged up and down a grand staircase, and repeatedly beaten as Cassie watches in horror. Topalian confirmed Elordi performed many of his own stunts during the ordeal.
The wedding itself was a major production undertaking, marking one of the first times the largely fragmented main cast appeared together on set. Creator Sam Levinson told TheWrap it was “a blast to shoot” but “fairly complicated” due to the number of actors involved, praising Elordi and Sweeney for balancing humor and anxiety in a scene he described as “equal parts hilarious and also tragic.”
Eric Dane returned as Cal Jacobs, Nate’s father, filming shortly after his ALS diagnosis and dying in February before the season premiered. Levinson recalled Dane’s grace and professionalism, saying he showed up with “such grace and dignity” and that he was “brilliant in this season,” adding, “I loved him. I miss him … I’ve got nothing but beautiful memories of that man.”
Production designer François Audouy designed the wedding as a visual metaphor for “American delusion,” aiming to produce the exterior so beautiful it masked internal decay. He said the venue had to feel “like a tragedy living inside perfection,” noting that Cassie’s $50,000 flower request — which the production exceeded — highlighted the hollowness in her relationship with Nate, who is financially strained.
Audouy revealed he and Levinson drew inspiration for the color scheme from the “tackiness of the pinks in a shrimp cocktail,” saying he “literally became so obsessive that I color sampled shrimp” to achieve the right blush, pink, and cream tones for the lavish yet unsettling aesthetic.
Vogue’s episode recap offered a fragmented, personal take on the wedding’s surreal tone, noting Jules’ pants-free nude painting, Maddy’s “wildly inappropriate” appearance, and the irony of Cassie’s mother declaring her “my masterpiece” in a moment evoking Black Swan. The piece also questioned the logic of inviting Rue and giving her a plus-one, suggesting tighter guest list management might have freed funds for better flowers without Cassie’s OnlyFans hustle.
The episode underscores Euphoria’s recurring theme of performance versus reality, using the wedding’s opulence to contrast with Nate’s physical destruction and Cassie’s emotional labor to fund the illusion. The violence is not random but tied directly to financial desperation, reinforcing the show’s critique of how characters sacrifice themselves for appearances they cannot afford.
Why did Naz target Nate’s toe specifically?
Naz told Page Six his character takes “great pleasure in” cutting off a particular body part, though he did not specify why the toe was chosen over others; the act serves as a calculated, personal punishment tied to Nate’s unpaid debt.
Was the wedding scene filmed in one continuous sequence?
No, Topalian said filming the assault sequence lasted “a few days,” involving multiple takes of Nate being beaten, dragged, and assaulted before the toe-cutting moment, with extensive employ of stunt work and prosthetics for safety.
