“Steer clear of him”- When Lily-Rose Depp revealed what it was like sharing the spotlight with the Weeknd on The Idol

Lily-Rose Depp made her television debut with HBO's The Idol in 2023. She played the troubled pop star Jocelyn, who sets to revive her music career after experiencing a nervous breakdown. However, her life takes an unexpected turn when she begins dating the charismatic nightclub owner and cult leader Tedros, played by the Weeknd (real name Abel Tesfaye).

On June 2, 2023, days before the show's premiere, Lily-Rose Depp spoke to Entertainment Weekly about her experience working on the HBO drama series. The 23-year-old actress revealed that she would sometimes maintain her distance from co-star Tesfaye when he would get in "full Tedros mode."

"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.'"

---

Everything to know about Lily-Rose Depp's controversial show The Idol

A poster of Lily-Rose Depp and the Weeknd from the HBO series The Idol (Image via Instagram/@theidol)

While Lily-Rose Depp did not elaborate on her on-set equation with the Weeknd, she did clarify that "nobody lost their minds" while filming the series, in the same EW article. Depp added that the "vibe on set was quite lighthearted." The actress also reiterated that she became "good friends" with her co-stars as they found it easy to "really understand each other."

She described her overall experience shooting for The Idol as follows:

"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, because whenever you knew that there was a bigger, emotional scene coming up, you felt like you were surrounded by people that you feel comfortable with, people that have your back, and you feel that in the show."

Months before the EW article, Rolling Stone had published a detailed report expressing the on-set chaos and behind-the-scenes antics in a March 2023 article. According to the news outlet, the show ran into numerous problems after director Amy Seimetz suddenly exited the series mid-production.

Sam Levinson, of Euphoria, stepped in and spearheaded a massive creative overhaul that took the story in a different direction than was previously planned. This unexpected change also led to significant rewrites, reshoots, and delays.

Furthermore, Rolling Stone reported that 13 cast and crew members claimed The Idol was headed in a "disturbing" direction with Levinson at the helm. Under his creative vision, the series allegedly ramped up its se*ual content, which played out more like "ra*e fantasies" and "torture p**n."

The Idol premiered its five-episode season between June 4, 2023, and July 2, 2023, on HBO. It was widely panned by critics, with The Guardian calling the series "one of the worst programs ever made."

---

Lily-Rose Depp took a scary turn in her latest film role

Lily-Rose Depp starred in the gothic horror film, Nosferatu, released on December 25, 2024. Robert Eggers wrote and directed the film, which is a remake of the silent film of the same name released in 1922. The 1922 film was, in turn, inspired by Bram Stoker's novel Dracula from 1897.

Set in the early 19th century, the film depicts Lily-Rose as Ellen Hutter, a haunted young woman who becomes the vampire Nosferatu's object of obsession and desire. Her co-stars in the movie include Bill Skarsgård, Nicholas Hoult, Willem Dafoe, Emma Corrin, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ralph Ineson, and Simon McBurney, among others.

The film was made on a budget of $50 million and, as per reports from The Numbers, has earned $26.4 million in box office collections, as of this writing.

---

Follow us for more updates on the latest movies and television shows.