'The Idol' co-creator Sam Levinson shared insight into the creation of the creepy cult leader character Tedros
The Idol co-creator Sam Levinson recently spilled the beans on how he convinced Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye to play the role of the creepy cult leader Tedros.
“We’re in Abel’s house, we’re talking it through, imagining the character Tedros,” Levinson revealed, in the series’ “Crafting the Family” featurette on Max.
“And I would say, ‘Imagine you have all of the dreams that you
have of what you want to do in life, in terms of music, and your career, all
of the aspirations — but imagine you have none of the talent. That’s who
this character is.'”
Previously, Tesfaye also painted a similar
picture of the character.
“There’s nothing really mysterious or
hypnotizing about him,” he said. “And we did that on purpose with his look,
his outfits, his hair — the guy’s a douchebag. You can tell he cares so much
about what he looks like, and he thinks he looks good."
"But then you see these weird moments of him alone — he
rehearses, he’s calculated. And he needs to do that, or he has nothing, he’s
pathetic.”
In the Max featurette, Levinson also spoke about how
Lily-Rose Depp’s troubled singer Jocelyn could be manipulated by both the
music industry and Tedros.
In the Max featurette, Levinson also
described the struggling character of singer Jocelyn played by Lily-Rose
Depp.
“Think of a pop star like a prized horse,” Levinson said.
“Everyone wants to keep her on track. They don’t want to derail her because
she’s gotta perform. The entire world is an illusion.”
