Despite the controversy around Sam Levinson‘s The IdolLily-Rose Depp has nothing but praise about her time working with the show’s creator.
The actress recently defended Levinson after he received backlash for the short-lived HBO drama, noting that he “always knew it was going to be controversial” as he’s “interested in that kind of work.”
“I think the thing that sucked about that was to have people talking s— about Sam [Levinson]who is a great friend of mine and somebody that I consider family,” she said on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. “I’m super close with him and Ashley [Levinson] — his wife who’s a producer on the show — and they are such wonderful people, so incredible, so kind, and really kind of took me under their wing in a way.”
Depp added, “The only thing that was upsetting about that whole time period was people talking negatively about [Sam] because the things that they said about him, particularly, as a filmmaker, just couldn’t be further from the truth than from, at least, my experience working with him. So that sucks. You just never want to hear people talking s— about your friend.”
In the 2023 series, which was canceled after one season, Depp played pop star Jocelyn, who returns to the limelight after a nervous breakdown forced her to cancel her last tour, becoming involved with self-help guru Tedros (The Weeknd) and his cult.
Lily-Rose Depp in HBO’s ‘The Idol’
HBO
“I love that character and I love that show,” said Depp. “People are always gonna make their own opinions of things, and so you just have to be steadfast in your conviction of, like, ‘I know why I’m doing this,’ and I know why I did that. That was a period in my life where I feel like I learned so much, I was pushed so far out of my comfort zone, in the most beautiful way, and it gave me so much growth that I will always look back on that as one of the most special times of my life.”
Depp said, “I think we were also, like, pushing society’s buttons intentionally a little bit, in a way, and of course, it was received in the way that it was, but it’s okay. It’s beautiful and I wouldn’t have changed anything about it.”
The Idol‘s cancelation came after extensive reshoots following the departure of director Amy Seimetz, as revealed by Deadline in April 2022, and a reduced order taking its total number of episodes to five. By the time the final episode aired, the overwhelming sentiment around the show was negative.
