OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA: The 'Euphoria' actor Angus Cloud was discovered by a talent scout while he was working as a waiter in Brooklyn. He was cast to play a drug dealer named Fezco, leading to Cloud winning numerous accolades from the audience over the course of the show's two seasons. Unbeknownst to most, the star almost escaped death when he fractured his skull after falling into a construction pit in 2013. Unfortunately, Cloud died on Monday, July 31, a decade after the dreadful incident that almost killed him.
The actor's death was confirmed by his family through a statement, which read, "It is with the heaviest heart that we had to say goodbye to an incredible human today. As an artist, a friend, a brother and a son, Angus was special to all of us in so many ways." The exact cause of his death is unknown, however, fans speculate that it might have been related to mental health issues based on the family's statement. Moreover, the statement mentioned that Cloud had lost his father a week earlier and was reeling from the tragedy.
Did Angus Cloud have a brain injury?
Cloud, who starred in HBO's second most-watched show of all time, faced several challenges in his life. The California native fell into a construction pit in 2013 while strolling down a dimly lit street in downtown Oakland, sustaining a brain injury, which led him to remain unconscious for 12 hours. The accident left him with a speech impairment and gave him the distinctive drawl associated with his 'Euphoria' character, as per Daily Mail. Cloud opened up about the trauma in 2022, stating that it also left a curved scar running up the left side of his scalp.
The actor remarked, "It's real. I broke my skull on Friday the 13th," recalling the horrific incident, according to the 2022 'Power of Young Hollywood' edition of Variety, continuing, "I woke up 12 hours later at the bottom. I was trapped. I eventually climbed out after -- I don't know how long. It was hella hard to climb out, because my skull was broken, but my skin wasn't, so all the bleeding was internal, pressing up against my brain. But they wasn't gonna find me down there. I found myself. Or God found me, whatever you want to call it." With shattered fingers, hazy eyesight, and hemorrhaging around his head, Cloud pushed himself out of the hole, which he estimated to be at least 10 feet deep, and claimed to have felt no pain as he "was in survival mode."
'I'll scribble-scrabble two words'
After making his getaway, Cloud rode the bus to his mother's house. He explained at the time, "Because I was a kid! I was 14 or 15. She thought I was on drugs, 'cause my pupils was hella dilated. I was trying to tell her what happened, but I could only start a sentence -- I couldn't finish it. So I was like, 'I'm just gonna go sleep in my bed'." His mother wouldn't let him sleep because she was concerned for his well-being and instead took him to the hospital, where the medical staff ultimately saved his life, as per the Variety interview.
Cloud added, "That's what the scar's from. They cut my head open, they put some screws and a plate over where I broke my skull and -- s**t, sealed me back up, and that was that. I'll scribble-scrabble two words together. Mix-match." His scar over the left side of his head from the incident became just as much a part of his well-known 'Euphoria' character's persona as his voice. The scar was also incorporated into the backstory of his character, Fez, during the show's second season.
