Lily-Rose Depp still ‘obsessed’ with fame hungry singer she plays in ‘The Idol’

22 February 2023

Lily-Rose Depp is still “obsessed” with the fame hungry singer she plays in ‘The Idol’.

Lily-Rose Depp is still ‘obsessed’ with the fame hungry singer she plays in ‘The Idol’

The 23-year-old model and actress daughter of Johnny Depp, 59, and Vanessa Paradis, 50, plays desperate wannabe star Jocelyn in the upcoming sex and drugs-packed HBO drama, and said her fixation on the part has stayed with her after she wrapped filming on the production, which also stars The Weeknd.

Lily told the new issue of i-D about the part, in an interview that ran alongside her nude cover shoot for the magazine: “I’ve dreamt of roles like this for forever. I just don’t think that you could give an actress a greater gift than a role like this.

“This has been the most meaningful and important project that I’ve ever done, and the thing that I’m the proudest of.

“I don’t know where to begin. Jocelyn is the most wonderfully complex character. She’s so fascinating. A mystery.

“After a year of living with that character, I’m still obsessed with her. I just want to keep digging deeper.”

Previews of ‘The Idol’ – which proclaims it tells the “sleaziest love story in all of Hollywood” – sees Lily-Rose smoking and seducing men as she tries to claw a singing career.

She said she researched old Hollywood stars for inspiration, adding: “I thought about movie stars of the 40s, like Lauren Bacall and Gene Tierney.

“They did not walk into a room and descend to anybody else’s level to try and make them feel comfortable.

“They almost had this confidence in the discomfort that they could provoke in people. A thing of, ‘This is who I am, and I’m not going to change.’”

The actress also paid tribute to singer The Weeknd, 33 – born Abel Tesfaye – for supporting her while shooting.

She added: “Talk about trust and comfort. I had to go to a lot of really vulnerable places in the show.

“Abel was the best partner that I could have ever asked for. He has my back and I have his.

“I just felt so free and liberated, so empowered.”

But she also paid tribute to her famous mum and dad for helping her, saying: “My parents are artists, and so I was really always encouraged to explore whatever I wanted to explore.

“I’ve always loved putting on a show since I was a little girl. I used to dress up and dance around.”