Lily-Rose Depp defended acting in raunchy sex scenes in her new drama, “The Idol,” and pushed back at critics who think the exploitative content isn’t appropriate for television.
Depp has been at the center of criticism over what fans are calling “torture porn,” in the hot and heavy scenes of Abel Tesfaye’s (The Weeknd’s) salacious new series. The show has been slammed for its graphic sex scenes and raunchy material. “We know that we’re making something provocative and we are not shying away from that,” Depp told Vogue Australia for the magazine’s July cover story.
.@theweeknd, Lily-Rose Depp, and Ramsey’s ‘Fill the Void’ earned its biggest streaming day EVER on Spotify, with 333,626 streams yesterday. pic.twitter.com/kRvyAaZuoz
— The Weeknd Charts (@TheWeekndStatz) June 28, 2023
Depp made it clear that those who disagreed with the content could simply opt not to watch.
“I was never interested in making something puritanical,” she said. “It’s okay if this show isn’t for everyone and that’s fine — I think all the best art is [polarizing].”
Depp said she embraced the scenes that apparently proved to be too much for some fans to handle. “When it comes to the nudity and the risqué nature of the role, that to me was really intentional,” she told the outlet. “That was really important to me and something that I was excited about doing.”
It’s been a long night. #THEIDOL pic.twitter.com/lNTHG2NIMa
— HBO (@HBO) June 28, 2023
“I’m not scared of it,” she added. “I think we live in a highly sexualized world. I think that’s an interesting thing to explore.”
Depp described what it was like for her to work on set while acting out scenes that sources described as “torture rape” and “rape fantasy,” according to a March article in Rolling Stone. (RELATED: Fans Are Put-Off By The Weeknd’s Sex Scenes In ‘The Idol’)
“I’ve never felt more respected and more safe on a set, honestly,” Depp said. “And I think the trust that we all built with each other … that can only make for a really safe-feeling set.”
Sam Levinson, Reza Fahim and Abel Tesfaye (The Weeknd) created the Max series, which premiered June 4.