Pop star Jocelyn (played by Lily-Rose Depp) learns the dark side of the entertainment industry when she falls for club owner and cult leader Tedros (The Weeknd). That’s basically the story The Idol. Director Amy Seimetz is hired to direct the filming. After a few months it is announced that she has already left the project. At that point, 80 percent of the series has been filmed.
According to sources, The Weeknd thinks the series is told too much from the female perspective. That’s why Seimetz is fired. Sam Levinson, who is already involved as a writer on the project, is being brought forward to take over as director. He decides to throw just about everything that has been recorded so far in the trash.
According to the crew, Levinson has a very different vision than his predecessor. One that part of the team is certainly not happy about. “What I signed up for was a dark satire of fame in the 21st century, but the show became exactly what it would personify,” one contributor tells Rolling Stone.
The crew has to watch Levinson adjust the story and, in their eyes, completely destroy the message. The series had to be about a singer who falls victim to the industry. And how she must fight to regain her independence. What remains, according to the crew, is an insulting, humiliating love story.
Levinson, who featured controversial sex scenes in Euphoria not afraid, also wants to The Idol add multiple nude scenes. For example, he comes up with scenes in which Tedros sexually abuses and assaults Depp’s character. Crew members find Levinson’s vision worrying. One employee even calls it torture porn. Some of the scenes devised by Levinson end up not being shot.
The constant rewriting and reshooting of scenes causes stress for the crew. Due to the lack of direction, the recordings take months and the employees work long days. Often they don’t know what to expect the next day. In addition, they no longer have any idea of what the series should ultimately look like. There have simply been too many changes to keep up.
Levinson has not yet responded to the article Rolling Stonebut The Weeknd lashes out at the magazine via Instagram. He hands out a previously unseen scene The Idol, in which his character calls the music magazine “irrelevant”. “Did we upset you, Rolling Stone,” the singer wrote.
Depp calls Levinson opposite Rolling Stone “the best director I’ve ever worked with”. Johnny Depp’s 23-year-old daughter says she has never felt so supported and respected in a work environment.
HBO has not yet commented on the behind-the-scenes stories of the series. It is also not yet clear when The Idol should appear.
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