Lily-Rose Depp reveals that she had to “steer clear” of The Weeknd on set of ‘The Idol’
Lily-Rose Depp, the star of HBO’s upcoming show, The Idol, has discussed working with Sam Levinson and The Weeknd, stating that she would sometimes have to “steer clear” of the latter on set.
The show has been the subject of much controversy, even before debuting at Cannes Film Festival, due to an exposé published by Rolling Stone, claiming that the show’s production went “wildly, disgustingly off the rails.”
Production members complained that the show became increasingly graphic and dark after the original director, Amy Seimetz, was replaced by Euphoria‘s Sam Levinson. “It went from satire to the thing it was satirizing,” one crew member explained.
Following the backlash against Levinson and The Weeknd (real name Abel Tesfaye), who co-created the show, Depp has told Entertainment Weekly that she would often “steer clear” of the singer/actor on set. She explained, “I don’t think anybody went full method — nobody lost their minds.”
“Well, sometimes when Abel would get — I don’t want to reveal too much about where Abel’s character goes, but when he would be in full Tedros mode sometimes, I would steer clear of him. I’d be like, ‘He’s in his zone right now.'”
However, she wasn’t wholly negative about Tesfaye, adding, “For something that does, of course, explore darker themes and has some pretty heavy emotional moments to it and everything, the vibe on set was quite lighthearted.”
She continued, “We’re all really good friends and we all are similar people and really understand each other. We were having a lot of laughs, listening to a lot of music, dancing around, and that kind of energy is what made the heavier moments easier and possible.”
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