The Idol Star Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye has detailed his goal with the HBO series and his approach to studying fame.
According to The Weeknd, what was the aim of The Idol?
When talking to diversity, Tesfaye was asked if working on the series made him reconsider the idea of fame or if it gave him a different feel for it. The musician and actor noted that his goal with the series is to get people to reevaluate fame and show that fame never lets you know what a person’s true intentions are.
“Well, my goal was for people to feel that way when they see it and for them to reevaluate[the fame],” Tesfaye explained. “It’s almost instructive that that’s part of being incredibly famous. You are surrounded by people whose true intentions you do not know, even if they appear to be good. You just never know. But of course I’ve been very fortunate to have people around me that I’ve known most of my life, which is important and a gift.
“Nothing is worse than a yes man, especially when you have a lot of yes men around. And when you see a character like Nikki (Katz, Jocelyn’s hard-nosed record label exec) who isn’t a yes man, she might seem like a bad person, but then you kind of like her because she’s honest. So it’s a very complicated situation for Jocelyn.”
The Idol was co-created by Euphoria’s Tesfaye, Reza Fahim and Sam Levinson. The ensemble cast includes Suzanna Son, Troye Sivan, Jane Adams, Rachel Sennott, Hari Nef, Moses Sumney, Jennie Ruby Jane, Dan Levy, Eli Roth, Ramsey, Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Hank Azaria.
After a glittering premiere at the 76th Cannes Film Festival, The Idol received many negative reviews, with most critics rating the series negatively. The sexual content and general themes of The Idol were driving factors for criticism.
Tesfaye, Fahim and Levinson are executive producers alongside Joe Epstein, Ashley Levinson, Nick Hall, Kevin Turen, Aaron Gilbert and Sara E. White. “The Idol” is an A24 production.