‘The Idol’ Isn’t The Britney Spears Story, Creator Sam Levinson Says; “We’re Not Trying To Tell A Story About Any Particular Pop Star”
23.05.2023 - 12:37
/ deadline.com
Yes, there’s a reference made to Britney Spears in Sam Levinson’s new HBO series, The Idol, and Lily-Rose Depp does play a Britney like character whose looking to rise from her funk, but as the Euphoria creator said at the Cannes press conference today, “We’re not trying to tell a story about any particular pop star.”
Said Levinson, “It’s a lot of pressure — to have to constantly be on, and to be what everyone wishes you to be. It’s a lonely life.”
“We can all pretend that everyone is looking out for someone’s best interest, but I think fame really corrupts, it’s really easy to surround yourself with myth makers who continue to prop us up,” the creator said.
Levinson said that when he first saw all the news about all the controversy on The Idol set, he knew he had the biggest hit of the summer.
Sam Levinson says that when he first saw reports of controversy on ‘The Idol’ set, he realized he had ‘the biggest show of the summer’ #Cannes pic.twitter.com/BaOXnbcs0x
The Idol stars Depp as Jocelyn, a super-ambitious Britney Spears-esque protag who has recently hit the big time in the dog-eat-dog world of showbiz. After a nervous breakdown derailed her last tour, she’s determined to claim her rightful status as the greatest and sexiest pop star in America. She meets Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye’s character Tedros, a nightclub impresario and ‘music manager’ with a sordid past. They hook-up BDSM style and the album she’s been on the fence with all of sudden gets an immediate remix that night, filled with sounds of her sexual panting (Hello? “Gimmie More” from Britney, any one?). Meanwhile, Jocelyn’s team and manager (Hank Azaria) are incredibly suspicious of Tedros.
Levinson mentioned that the Britney reference in the series was