Sam Levinson on The Idol: Things That Might Be Revolutionary, Sam Levinson, Lily-Rose Depp, Tesfaye, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Jane Adams, and Hank Azaria gathered for a press conference the day after The Idol’s eagerly anticipated Cannes premiere, which was followed by an after-party that lasted until five in the morning with Abel Tesfaye, a.k.a. the Weeknd, behind the DJ booth urging everyone to get off their phones and dance.
Since the March Rolling Stone article that claimed, among other things, that the programme had changed throughout the course of production into “twisted torture porn,” The Idol has been a hot issue in the media.
(Sam Levinson on The Idol: Things That Might Be Revolutionary)
The Idol tends to become leering and inadvertently pedestrian due to Levinson’s normally provocative directing, according to critics who have finally had a chance to watch it. Levinson’s perspective “seems corrupt,” according to Variety. Jocelyn shouldn’t have to endure humiliation and hardship to get stronger. Audiences of Euphoria won’t be very shocked by the dishonest manner he handles Depp’s character because both her and the programme seem to be at The Weeknd’s mercy.
The Hollywood Reporter pointed out that in “trying so hard to be transgressive, the show ultimately becomes regressive,” and Vanity Fair wrote that it’s “certainly trying hard to shock and titillate us. But there’s something oddly prosaic about what I’ve seen so far. There’s a slight awkwardness, too, as if Levinson and his actors are talking dirty for the very first time.”
Nonetheless, the cast presented a united front at the press conference, defending Levinson’s artistic vision and speaking warmly and forcefully about their filming experience. Depp echoed Levinson’s premiere remarks that the group had become “like a family”; Tesfaye called them all “the people that I love.”
(Sam Levinson on The Idol: Things That Might Be Revolutionary)
He recalled coming to Cannes before he became an actor and producer, watching from the audience as filmmakers and their cast members cried over receptions, thinking to himself that he’d never break down publicly in the same way. “Of course, once I looked at Sam and Lily, I fell apart,” he said, “because I love them.” Tesfaye, who plays Tedros in the series, added that they all wanted to “create something special, something fun, to make people laugh, piss some people off.”
When asked about the show’s nudity and sexuality (Depp’s character is often onscreen in various stages of undress, twice shown masturbating while choking herself, and at one point instructed to “suffocate on [Tedros’s] cock”) and how Levinson and Depp toed the line between representing female sexuality in a way that’s “revolutionary” and a way that takes it “too far,” Levinson gave a lengthy response:
(Sam Levinson on The Idol: Things That Might Be Revolutionary)
“It’s funny, sometimes things that might be revolutionary are taken too far. We live in a very sexualized world. I can’t speak to other countries, but especially in the States, the influence of pornography is really strong in terms of the psyche of young people. And we see this in pop music, and how it sort of reflects the kind of underbelly of the internet.
Lily and I had a lot of discussions about who Jocelyn is as a person, what she’s feeling, what she’s angling, who she’s playing to, and from that point, the sexuality comes out of that character. There are two things that happen when you have a character with such a strong sense of self and such a strong sexual sense: You end up kind of underestimating her, because you’re not quite sure, ‘Well, why is she doing this? Why is she wearing this? Why is she singing about this?’ But at the same time, it’s what allures and attracts an audience and an imagination. I think it’s very true to what almost every pop star is doing these days.”
(Sam Levinson on The Idol: Things That Might Be Revolutionary)
“I second that,” said Depp. “Jocelyn is a born and bred performer, and that extends to every aspect of her life, not just her professional life. The way she dresses, for example, is her trying to say something to the people she’s around and express herself in some kind of way. The occasional bareness of the character physically mirrors the bareness we get to see emotionally … I’ve never felt more involved in those types of conversations across the board.”
Joked Azaria, “I was always trying to throw blankets and coats over Lily on set: ‘Are you cold? Are you cold?’” Randolph implied that the show was going to surprise audiences by shifting its tone over time: “It’s femme-forward and empowering,” she said. “What you all saw last night — no, no, no, no, no. It’s way more. In the best way possible.”
The improv-heavy, long-take, three-camera structure of shooting “created this energy that we see and recognize in reality television,” he added. “I wanted reality to seep in, and for those mistakes and the fumbling of dialogue and the confusion to become part of this piece. That is the business, in many ways — that’s the feeling that exists inside of creatives and executives, this slight terror that it all may just go awry. I think that’s a really visceral emotion to capture and it’s a hard one because you can’t manicure it.”
(Sam Levinson on The Idol: Things That Might Be Revolutionary)
(Sam Levinson on The Idol: Things That Might Be Revolutionary)