‘The Idol’ star Da’Vine Joy Randolph defends The Weeknd: He ‘had a vision’
Da’Vine Joy Randolph claimed there were “no red flags” during her time on set of HBO’s controversial series “The Idol.”
The actress, who was handpicked by director Sam Levinson to play the manager of Lily-Rose Depp’s pop star character, said she trusted the vision Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye had for the show.
“What I was told was at the end of the day, Abel had a vision for it and wanted to see it through,” Randolph told Variety Thursday.
“He wanted Sam to be more than just executive. He wanted him to do it — which lucked out for me, because I got to work with Sam.”
The “Only Murders in the Building” star was brought on board for the role of Destiny after Levinson and Tesfaye overhauled the drama.
A bombshell Rolling Stone report published in March revealed the pair scrapped the original version, helmed by Amy Seimetz, and re-shot the entire series.
“This happens all the time,” Randolph, 37, explained to the outlet.
“I’ve had things where I’ve been let go because they changed the concept, or they changed the lead person — and then I no longer fit into that show.”
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She continued, “Being completely transparent, there were no red flags because to me, that made sense — Abel had a vision that didn’t get executed, he wanted to make sure he really believed in it, he wanted to make sure it’s done how he sees it, so he got Sam on board to do it himself.”
Randolph also defended the “Blinding Lights” singer, 33, and the “Euphoria” creator, 38, following claims that the show had gone “disgustingly off the rails” and been turned into “sexual torture porn.”
“I never ever saw anything,” she said in response to the allegations made in Rolling Stone’s report.
“If I did see anyone being mistreated — especially since I was one of the older actors — I would have said something, or I would have walked off that set.”
Although Randolph admitted the cast and crew did spend “long hours” on set shooting, she denied that anything was “out of the ordinary.”
“There wasn’t anything … abusive or crazy,” she said.
“And on top of it, I think they gave even more love, care, sensitivity and respect, due to the fact of what the actors have to do. The crew was very supportive, we knocked it out and we made something that I think was quite great and different.”
Randolph is not the first actor to defend the series, which features graphic sex scenes and what viewers have called “disgusting” jokes.
Depp, who stars as Jocelyn, said she was “never interested in making something puritanical.”
“We know that we’re making something provocative and we are not shying away from that,” she told Vogue Australia in her cover story published Tuesday.
“That’s something I knew I was setting out to do from the beginning. It’s OK if this show isn’t for everyone and that’s fine,” she continued, adding that “the best art” is polarizing.
Tesfaye also continues to stand by the series, in which his character, Tedros, preys on Depp’s troubled pop idol character.
He told Variety earlier this month that the backlash was “very much expected.”
“We’re playing with genres with this show, we’re doing exactly what we wanted to do,” he said.
