Lily-Rose Depp Is ‘Proud’ ‘The Idol’ Pushes the Envelope: ‘I’m Not Interested in Making Anything Puritanical’

“I think this show is fearless,” the actress said of her costarring role alongside producer and co-creator The Weeknd

Lily-Rose Depp is opening about risqué scenes in her upcoming show The Idol.

The 23-year-old actress was intentional in choosing to be part of the HBO series, in which she plays a rising pop star who falls into a relationship with a self-help guru and nightclub owner (Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye).

“I’m not interested in making anything puritanical,” she revealed in ELLE’s December 2022/January 2023 issue. “I’m not interested in making anything that doesn’t challenge me, or challenge other people, honestly.”

She continued, “I think this show is fearless, and that’s something that I’ve been really excited and proud to dive into. I can’t wait for you guys to see it.”

Depp added that her Grammy-winning costar, 32, and director Sam Levinson made her feel “incredibly safe and protected.”

He is “a really good friend who’s had my back,” she shared. “We’ve gone on this wild ride together. It was a first for both of us in a lot of ways.”

She also noted that the cast — which also includes Dan Levy, Eli Roth, Hank Azaria and Rachel Sennott — “really clicked.”

Depp explained, “It’s rare for a group of people who don’t know each other and who are all different ages and from different walks of life to mesh so well.”

She continued, “I think it’s difficult to do this kind of work that can be so vulnerable in so many different ways if you don’t have a lot of trust between you and your collaborators.”

Despite the intimate nature of the role, Depp is “not not here to give myself to the world to be eaten alive.”

“It’s kind of a double-edged sword, because when you’re an artist, you make things in the hope that they’re going to connect with somebody,” she shared. “But then it also comes with this thing where people feel like they know you, even though they don’t.”

In August, The Weeknd debuted the teaser trailer for The Idol during his concert at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. The Idol will see Depp’s character descend deeper into the self-help guru’s orbit — and the cult he leads – as she gradually discovers the much darker role he plays in the industry.

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