From the gutters of Hollywood, express to Showmax, comes The Idol, a new HBO Original series from Emmy-nominated Euphoria creator-director, Sam Levinson, and Oscar-nominated, Grammy-winning pop star Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye, who co-stars alongside Lily-Rose Depp in her breakthrough lead role.
Fresh from scandalising the Cannes Film Festival last month, the 18LSDN The Idol is currently the #14 Most Popular TV Series on IMDb, with The Guardian already calling it “2023’s most controversial show.”
Depp plays mega-star Jocelyn, whose nervous breakdown derailed her last tour. Will her romantic awakening with club owner and self-help guru Tedros (Tesfaye) help her claim her rightful status as America’s sexiest pop idol or take her to the deepest and darkest depths of her soul?
Tesfaye was born to Ethiopian immigrants, left home at 17, was homeless for a while, and started out releasing songs anonymously on YouTube before Blinding Lights became Spotify’s most streamed song of all time.
Both Levinson and Depp, meanwhile, are Hollywood babies. Levinson is the son of Oscar-winning filmmaker Barry Levinson, the man behind classics like Good Morning, Vietnam, Wag the Dog, and Rain Man, while Depp is the eldest child of former couple Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis.
Fame a central theme
So it’s no surprise that fame is a central theme on the show. “I’ve always been fascinated with celebrity and fame, particularly the bubble that many people live in where it’s a totally fictional reality,” says Levinson. “They’re surrounded by myth-makers who are constantly curating a reality that isn’t true.”
Levinson is full of praise for HBO. “I count my lucky stars every day that I’m working with HBO. They have real respect for the individual storyteller. They took a huge leap making this show and letting me work alongside Abel— a pop star who’d never acted before! So, we didn’t want to let them down. And I hope people are excited to see what we’ve made because it feels like something that we haven’t quite seen before.”
What: The Idol
Where: Showmax
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