Lily-Rose Depp talks sexuality on-screen as ‘The Idol’ is slammed by Cannes critics

HBO’s latest series ‘The Idol’ has made its Cannes Film Festival debut and the reviews are in. While the series was declared a “luxury sleaze” by The Wrap, star Lily-Rose Depp has a different opinion about the story.

Both Lily-Rose Depp and musician Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye spoke at a Cannes Film Festival Press Conference after a showing of the series’ first two 50-minute episodes.

A performer

“I think that something about Jocelyn is just that she’s a born and bred performer,” she said at a Cannes Film Festival press conference.

“I think that extends to every aspect of her life, not just her professional life. I think that the way that she dresses, for example, is her trying to tell you something all the time or say something to the people that she’s around or express herself in some kind of way.”

Depp continued, “And I also think that the occasional bareness of the character physically mirrors the bareness that we get to see emotionally in her.”

Jocelyn as a reflection of culture

For director and co-creator Sam Levison, Depp’s character Jocelyn is a reflection of American culture and its influence on the “psyche of young people.”

“It’s funny, I think that sometimes things that might be revolutionary are taken too far,” Levinson also told reporters at the press conference. “I think we live in a very sexualized world.”

Levinson continued, “We see this in pop music and how it reflects the underbelly of the internet in some ways. I think that with this show and working with Lily, we had a lot of discussions about who she is as a person, who Jocelyn is as a person, and what she’s feeling, what she’s angling, who she’s playing to.”

“There’s two things that happen, when you have a character that has such a strong sense of self and such a strong sexual sense, is you simultaneously end up underestimating her,” Levinson said.

“Because you’re not quite sure. ‘Well, why is she doing this? Why is she wearing this? Why is she singing about this?’”

“And at the same time, it’s also what alerts people, it’s what attracts an audience,” he added. “It’s what attracts an imagination. And I think it’s very true to what almost every pop star is doing these days.”

‘The Idol’ will be available for the public to view on HBO and Max starting June 4.