Lily-Rose Depp Discusses On-Screen Sexuality as ‘The Idol’ is Labeled ‘Luxury Sleaze’ by Critics

The actress has quite a bit to say about her character in the new Abel Tesfaye (The Weeknd) and Sam Levinson series The Idol.

Character Development

“I think that something about Jocelyn is just that she’s a born and bred performer,” she shared at the Cannes festival. “I think that extends to every aspect of her life, not just her professional life. I think that the way that she dresses, for example, is her trying to tell you something all the time or say something to the people that she’s around or express herself in some kind of way.”

“And I also think that the occasional bareness of the character physically mirrors the bareness that we get to see emotionally in her,” she added.

Levinson, the director, believes that Jocelyn is a representation of American culture, particularly the impact of pornography on the “psyche of young people.”

“It’s funny, I think that sometimes things that might be revolutionary are taken too far,” Levinson shared with reporters at the press conference for the series. “I think we live in a very sexualized world.”

Looking at the World

“We see this in pop music and how it reflects the underbelly of the internet in some ways. I think that with this show and working with Lily, we had a lot of discussions about who she is as a person, who Jocelyn is as a person, and what she’s feeling, what she’s angling, who she’s playing to.”

“There’s two things that happen, when you have a character that has such a strong sense of self and such a strong sexual sense, is you simultaneously end up underestimating her,” Levinson added. “Because you’re not quite sure. ‘Well, why is she doing this? Why is she wearing this? Why is she singing about this?'”

“And at the same time, it’s also what alerts people, it’s what attracts an audience,” he continued. “It’s what attracts an imagination. And I think it’s very true to what almost every pop star is doing these days.”

The Idol has premiered at the Cannes Film Festival but will be available on HBO Max on June 4th.

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