Lily-Rose Depp Confesses Most Hurtful Thing About ‘The Idol’ Backlash and It’s Not What You’d Expect

Lily-Rose Depp has been causing quite the stir recently with her phenomenal performance in the Gothic horror Nosferatu. She did something similar back in 2023 when she starred as the protagonist of the critically panned HBO show, The Idol. The series had negative fanfare, if any at all.

Depp has often faced widespread criticism for her ‘nepo-baby’ reputation, a topic she frequently addresses. The scrutiny intensified when she appeared in the HBO show, but she has consistently defended it, and most notably, creator Sam Levinson. In a recent interview, she expressed her unwavering support for Levinson, stating that the negative narrative against him was the most hurtful aspect of the backlash The Idol received.

Lily-Rose Depp was very upset about the backlash against Sam Levinson

Lily-Rose Depp is the oldest child of two of the most well-known people in the entertainment industry, Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis. The acting genes were undeniably strong and began to shine through when she was just a teenager as she made her debut in 2014 with a minor role in the film Tusk.

Since then, she has starred in numerous movies such as Planetarium, The Dancer, and The King. She has also been nominated as the Most Promising Actress twice at the César Awards. Her TV debut came in 2023 with the show The Idol, in which she portrayed Jocelyn, a pop idol who has a complex relationship with Tesfaye (The Weeknd).

Sam Levinson, creator of the hit show Euphoria, created this show along with the Blinding Lights singer and Reza Fahim. The show became so infamous after a single season that the second season had to be canceled and the narrative quickly went against Levinson.

In a recent interview on the Happy, Sad, Confused podcast, Depp revealed that this was what she found the most upsetting about the whole thing.

I think the only thing that I really like was upsetting about that whole time period was people talking negatively about him because the things that they said about him, particularly as a filmmaker, were just couldn’t be further from the truth and from at least my experience working with him, so that sucks.

She stated that the Malcolm & Marie director and his wife, Ashley Levinson, were the kindest and most incredible people and that she was very close with them. It seems understandable that Depp feels upset by how Levinson was dragged on the internet.

Lily Rose-Depp was disappointed that The Idol did not get a second season

Things remain largely unpredictable in life and the entertainment business is no exception to this. Sometimes, the most mundane-looking movies and shows become insanely popular, and other times, even the good stuff fails to get the recognition it deserves.

This is not to say that The Idol was a good show, but Depp and everyone else involved had faith in it. So, getting upset about the fact that it did not land well with the audience seems plausible. In an interview with Vanity Fair, the Voyagers actress admitted that she would have loved to explore the character further.

I would’ve loved to have worked with Sam again. And I loved the character profoundly. She is the woman that I wanted to be when I was five. I was the little girl who was wearing my mom’s heels—she is the femme fatale fantasy of who I wanted to be when I was a kid. So I would’ve loved to explore that character further.

She has not lost hope though and believes that she will get the chance to work with Levinson again at some point in her career. In fact, she also believes that everything happens for a reason which is exactly the kind of positive attitude an artist should have.