Jennie Ruby Jane said her dancing scenes in the series premiere of “The Idol” came together seamlessly thanks to her experience in K-pop girl group Blackpink.
“I didn’t have a lot of time to learn the choreo for the dance scenes. But thankfully I do this all the time, so it came naturally to me,” Jane said in a HBO featurette exploring the making of the premiere episode.
In HBO’s “The Idol,” which centers rebounding pop star Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp), Jane plays Dyanne, a dancer whose professional life blends with her personal life through her friendship with Jocelyn.
When Jocelyn gets overloaded with photoshoots for her comeback album cover and an interview with a Vanity Fair journalist played by Hari Nef, the pop star takes a break to catch her breath amid rehearsal for her upcoming single as the choreographer instructs Dyanne to take her place. The choreographer applauds Dyanne’s performance in Jocelyn’s place — yelling “exactly what I want” — and Dyanne soothes Jocelyn’s nerves when she returns to the stage, saying “we’re all here because of you.”
“The technical training for the ‘World Class Center’ dance was so much fun,” Depp said in the featurette.
After Jocelyn nails the dance sequence, she asks Dyanne if she wants to go into the sauna, while Leia (Rachel Sennott) informs Jocelyn her team needs to speak with her. Upon learning that a photo of Jocelyn with body fluids has been leaked across the internet, Jocelyn makes plans with Dyanne to go out, asking “what was the name of that club?”
Later, at the club, Dyanne is with Jocelyn when she first meets nightclub owner Tedros (Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye), who lures Jocelyn for one dance. While Jocelyn appeases Tedros and meets up with him for a dance, Dyanne can be seen dancing with another woman, played by “Euphoria” royalty Alexa Demie.
Known by her stage name “Jennie,” Jane has previously released several solo tracks and continues to perform with Blackpink, who made history by becoming the first K-pop girl group to perform at Coachella Music Festival when they headlined the California-based festival this spring.
“The Idol” Episode 1 is now streaming on Max.
