She is best known for playing Lexi Howard on the HBO teen drama series Euphoria. Apatow kicked off acting as a child, appearing in films directed by her father, filmmaker and comedian Judd Apatow, often alongside her mother, actress Leslie Mann. Over the years, Apatow has established herself as an actress in her own right.
Her film credits include Other People, The House of Tomorrow, Assassination Nation, and The King of Staten Island. She has also appeared in the Netflix miniseries Hollywood. However, her role as Lexi Howard in Euphoria remains her most prominent television performance and has assisted make her a recognizable figure among a younger generation of audiences.
Maude Apatow was born on December 15, 1997, in Los Angeles, California. She is the daughter of Judd Apatow and Leslie Mann. Her younger sister, Iris Apatow, is also an actress.
Apatow attended Crossroads School, a private college preparatory school in Santa Monica, where she participated in productions of musicals including Into the Woods and Cabaret. She later enrolled at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, but left the institution after completing her second year to pursue her acting career. Apatow kicked off acting at a young age.
At seven, she was cast in her father’s comedy The 40-Year-Old Virgin, although her scenes were ultimately not included in the final version of the film. Her first major screen appearance came in 2007 when she appeared in Judd Apatow’s comedy Knocked Up. She and her sister played the daughters of their mother’s character in the film.
The role marked the beginning of a series of appearances in her father’s movies. In 2009, the Apatow sisters appeared in Funny People, again playing the daughters of Leslie Mann’s character. They later reprised their roles from Knocked Up in the 2012 spin-off sequel This Is 40.
Her performance in This Is 40 earned Apatow recognition from critics and awards organizations. She received a nomination from the Phoenix Film Critics Society for Best Young Actress and another nomination for a Young Artist Award. Apatow expanded her career beyond her family’s film projects in 2016 with a role in the independent dramedy Other People.
The film marked her first major movie that was neither directed by her father nor centered around a role for her mother. She played Alexandra Mulcahey, one of two daughters in a family dealing with a mother’s serious illness. The film featured Jesse Plemons, Molly Shannon, Bradley Whitford, John Early, June Squibb, and Zach Woods.
In 2017, Apatow appeared in The House of Tomorrow, a film based on Peter Bognanni’s novel. She starred alongside Asa Butterfield, Alex Wolff, Ellen Burstyn, Nick Offerman, and Michaela Watkins. That same year, Apatow also explored filmmaking by co-directing and co-writing the short film Don’t Mind Alice with Olivia Rosenbloom.
In 2018, she played Grace in the black comedy thriller Assassination Nation, directed by Sam Levinson. The film featured Odessa Young, Suki Waterhouse, Hari Nef, Bella Thorne, Joel McHale, Colman Domingo, and Kelvin Harrison Jr. Apatow later appeared in The King of Staten Island, a 2020 dramedy directed by her father.
The film starred Pete Davidson, Marisa Tomei, Bill Burr, and Bel Powley. Apatow played Claire, the sister of Davidson’s character, Scott Carlin. Apatow made her television debut in 2015 with a recurring role in the HBO series Girls.
She appeared as Cleo in three episodes during the show’s fourth season. Created by Sam Levinson, the series follows a group of teenagers as they navigate relationships, family, friendship, identity, and other challenges. Apatow plays Lexi Howard, the younger sister of Cassie Howard, portrayed by Sydney Sweeney, and a childhood friend of Rue Bennett, played by Zendaya.
The role gave Apatow a much larger international audience and established her as one of the prominent young actresses of her generation. Her performance as Lexi has been particularly important to her career because it allowed her to move beyond being known primarily as the daughter of two prominent figures in Hollywood. While working on Euphoria, Apatow also appeared in the 2020 Netflix miniseries Hollywood.
The series, created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, explores a fictionalized version of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Apatow played Henrietta Castello, the pregnant wife of a World War II veteran. The cast included Darren Criss, Jeremy Pope, David Corenswet, Dylan McDermott, Joe Mantello, Laura Harrier, and Jim Parsons.
Apatow was previously linked to British talent manager Charlie Christi, with whom she reportedly kicked off dating in 2018. The relationship later wrapped up. She subsequently dated author Sam Koppelman, who is known as a co-author of Impeach: The Case Against Donald Trump.
Koppelman has also worked in political communications. Following that relationship, Apatow was linked to actor Patrick Gibson, known for his role in Dexter: Original Sin.