According to “The Idol’s” creator and star, Jocelyn’s (Lily-Rose Depp) about-face was part of the plan well before Sunday night’s finale.
“Jocelyn is a very strategic and calculated person. She knows exactly what she wants, and she’s going to stop at nothing to get it,” Depp said in an HBO video breaking down Episode 5.
Depp is aware that “The Idol’s” audience has spent most of the series believing that Tedros (Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye) was taking advantage of Jocelyn. But it’s only after Jocelyn has taken credit for the singers Tedros found, kicked him out of her house and publicly ruined him that the truth comes out: she’s been the one using him this entire time.
Tedros realized the truth after he noticed the brush Jocelyn claimed her mother used to beat her was brand new. “What we realize at the end is that Tedros was her muse, and that she got what she needed out of him,” Depp said.
Series creator, director and executive producer described Tedros as a “sort of conduit” for Jocelyn’s creativity as she searched for her next song and next album.
“She needs to devour those around her to feel like she has something to say,” Levinson said.
Capturing this finale was a heavy lift for production. “Jocelyn Forver” ended with its titular star on tour, a scene that required Depp and Tesfaye to film in front of live audience of 70,000 people. Because of the scope and cost of the scene, Depp only had two takes to get Jocelyn’s final speech right.
From Levinson, Tesfaye and Reza Fahim, the HBO Sunday drama follows a pop star who’s fallen from grace after a mental breakdown. Desperate to fight her way back to the top, she aligns herself with a self-help guru and cult leader. The series has been plagued by massive creative changes, costly reshoots and accusations of being “hostile to feminism.”
All episodes of “The Idol” are now streaming on Max.
