Lily-Rose Depp Defends The Idol Creator Sam Levinson After Negative Backlash to Series
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Lily-Rose Depp is defending The Idol creator and director Sam Levinson after the explicit show received negative reviews and backlash.
The Nosferatu actor recently opened up about her love for the show and being “pushed so far out of my comfort zone” in the role of popstar Jocelyn in the HBO series. Depp acted alongside musician The Weeknd (Abel Tesfaye), Troye Sivan, Jennie Kim, Rachel Sennott, and more. However after the show was released in 2023, reviews were unfavorable and specifically targeted Levinson and his co-collaborator Tesfaye. The series was canceled after just one season.
“I think the thing that sucked about that was to have people talking sh*t about Sam [Levinson], who is a great friend of mine and somebody that I consider family,” Depp said on a recent episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast. “I’m super close with him and Ashley [Levinson] — his wife who’s a producer on the show — and they are such wonderful people, like, so incredible, so kind, and really kind of took me under their wing in a way."
Levinson also famously created HBO's other popular but controversial series Euphoria, which has received similar criticisms about its at times unnecessarily explicit content. The show's third season took a back seat due to The Idol, and during that hiatus, Barbie Ferreira left the show due to creative differences about her character, and Angus Cloud, who played Fezco, died in 2023.
“The only thing that was upsetting about that whole time period was people talking negatively about [Sam] because the things that they said about him, particularly, as a filmmaker, just couldn’t be further from the truth than from, at least, my experience working with him," Depp continued. “So that sucks. You just never want to hear people talking sh*t about your friend.”
The Idol centers around Jocelyn, a pop star who gets involved with nightclub owner and cult leader Tedros, played by Tesfaye, in an attempt to rehabilitate her career. The show included multiple sex scenes and adult content, but multiple critics said the show's main offense was that it was “boring.”
“I love that character and I love that show… People are always gonna make their own opinions of things, and so you just have to be steadfast in your conviction of, like, ‘I know why I’m doing this,’ and I know why I did that,” Depp continued. “That was a period in my life where I feel like I learned so much, I was pushed so far out of my comfort zone, in the most beautiful way, and it gave me so much growth that I will always look back on that as one of the most special times of my life.”
Depp went on to say that she and Levinson “always knew it was going to be controversial,” but said that she is “interested in that kind of work."
“I think we were also, like, pushing society’s buttons intentionally a little bit, in a way, and of course, it was received in the way that it was, but it’s okay,” Depp said. “It’s beautiful and I wouldn’t have changed anything about it.”
Lily-Rose Depp is currently promoting her new film Nosferatu, which has already been met with much nicer reviews and critical acclaim. Depp's acting in particular has been revered, as she plays the main heroine of the film and the target of the vampire Count Orlok.
Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue
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