• Lily-Rose Depp defended her series The Idol more than a year after the controversial series was canceled
• The actress said of the series, “We always knew some people were not going to like it and that it was going to be too much for some people.”
• The show has made headlines for its overtly explicit sex scenes and nudity in addition to being the subject of a Rolling Stone exposé 

Lily-Rose Depp still has love for The Idol despite the backlash to the controversial series.

The Nosferatu star, 25, told Vanity Fair that she doesn’t have any regrets about starring opposite Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye in the HBO series, which was canceled in August 2023 after one season.

“I love it. Honestly, I love it,” she shared of the show, which followed a rising pop star (Depp) who falls into a complicated relationship with a self-help guru and nightclub owner (The Weeknd).

“You make something and you hope that people like it, and you hope that it resonates with people,” she continued. “But we always knew some people were not going to like it and that it was going to be too much for some people. But I stand by it. We made a choice and we went for it.”

Depp explained that she enjoys interacting with fans who enjoyed the series, which was co-created by Euphoria‘s Sam Levinson.

“I love it when people do come up to me and they’re like, ‘I love The Idol.’ And I’m like, ‘Thank you. You get it!’ It’s okay that it’s not for everyone,” she explains. “That’s a beautiful thing about it. I’m very close with Sam and Ashley [Levinson]. They’re like family to me. I’m excited to get to work with them again one day.”

The actress reflected on the personal growth she experienced while filming the show, saying, “I loved the experience of making it—that was a huge turning point for me. I learned so much about myself, and I got to progress so much in my own work. I learned how to dance, and sing, and do all these things that I had never done before. It was a real growing period for me. So I look back on it and I can only think fondly, and I’m really proud of what it is.”

The series has made headlines for its overtly explicit sex scenes and nudity. The Idol — which was the subject of a Rolling Stone exposé — was also criticized for its storylines, with The Guardian calling it “one of the worst programs ever made.”

Depp told Vanity Fair it was “hard to escape” the backlash, saying, “Obviously, it was a big topic of conversation—but I was always prepared for it.”

“We knew what we were doing, intentionally touching on things that were supposed to be shocking, and crazy, and of its own world,” she added. “So when people were like, ‘This is so crazy,’ we were like, ‘Ha ha ha. It is super crazy.’”

However, Depp shared that she doesn’t take the criticism personally.

“I like to do things that maybe not everybody’s down to do,” she said. “No matter what the project is, you go there and you try to give your heart and your best and everything, and then it goes and it gets edited, and you have nothing to do with that, and then it gets received in the world, and you also have nothing to do with that. And also, I’m not an internet rat like that. I’m not on Twitter. I’m not reading stuff.”

Despite the reaction, the actress would have liked to return for another season, explaining, “I mean, 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,” she added. “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. But I know that we’ll do something again together one day, and I’m excited for that day. Everything happens for a reason.”

Depp previously defended the series at a Cannes Flim Festival press conference in May 2023, as she explained: “I think that something about Jocelyn is just that she’s a born and bred performer. 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,” she added. “And I also think that the occasional bareness of the character physically mirrors the bareness that we get to see emotionally in her.”

Levinson also defended the series, saying, “It’s funny, I think that sometimes things that might be revolutionary are taken too far. I think we live in a very sexualized world.”

The Idol is streaming in full on Max.