Lily-Rose Depp and Sam Levinson collaborated on the highly controversial 2023 HBO series The Idol. During her appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, she recalled the most “disturbing” moment of starring in the erotic musical drama opposite The Weeknd.
The actress revealed that the hatred she received from director and co-producer Sam Levinson was sad, as she was friends with the filmmaker. “I think what made it worse was that people were talking about Sam, who is a very good friend of mine and someone I consider family,” she told host Josh Horowitz.
Depp revealed that he is close friends with Levinson and his wife Ashley, who was also a producer on the show. He called them wonderful people who were kind enough to take him under their wing. Levinson took over the helm of the film after its original director Amy Seimetz left the series in 2022.
An article released by Rolling Stone claimed that Levinson’s direction was reportedly criticized by 13 production members as the project had to be rewritten and reshot.
Production members also claimed that frequent rewriting of scripts took a toll on the project and allegedly weakened the show’s broader message by increasing the disturbing sexual content to exceed the standards set by Euphoria.
In a statement released to Entertainment Weekly, Depp defended his friend, saying that he felt “seen, heard and appreciated” on the set and described Levinson as the best director he had ever worked with in his career.
“The only thing that was troubling during that whole time was people talking negatively about him,” he said.
The Voyageurs actress also said that the claims made against Levinson’s filmmaking approach couldn’t be further from the truth. “So this is useless. You never want to hear people talking about your friend,” she added.
Depp is currently starring in the horror drama Nosferatu, directed by Robert Eggers, which also stars Bill Skarsgård, Willem Dafoe, Emma Corrin and Nicholas Hoult. According to the official synopsis, the highly anticipated film is “a Gothic tale of passion between a haunted young woman and the terrifying vampire who fascinates her, leaving untold horrors in his wake”.
Nosferatu will be released in theaters on January 10, 2025.