Kicking off on HBO on June 4, The Idol — the brainchild of Abel Tesfaye, aka The Weeknd, and Euphoria creator and showrunner Sam Levinson — delves into the world of the entertainment industry with a dark twist. The show, which has been mired in controversy, stars Lily-Rose Depp as Jocelyn, a young pop star who is drawn to club owner and cult leader Tedros (played by Tesfaye), but it also features a huge ensemble cast. Many of the actors in The Idol are household names and no stranger to the inside world of entertainment in their own lives, but who do they all play on this show? Spoiler warning: Spoilers for Episode 1 of The Idol follow.
As I watched the series premiere, I frankly got a little overwhelmed by the sheer amount of people on Jocelyn’s team. The show opens at her album cover shoot, where she’s got a creative director, manager, assistant, agent, and more all watching hawk-eyed as she takes topless photos (not to mention the Vanity Fair journalist played by Hari Nef, who’s hoping to write a tell-all piece about Jocelyn and her new era). If you’re wondering who’s who, here’s a breakdown of The Idol cast and what each character is responsible for in Jocelyn’s life.
Jocelyn (pop star): Lily-Rose Depp
Starting off with an obvious one, we have Depp as Joceluyn herself. The show draws comparisons between Jocelyn and Britney Spears, to give you an idea of her type of stardom. We find out Jocelyn hasn’t put out new music for about a year, so she’s rehearsing a new song (that she hates, BTW) with her dancers, as well as getting her album cover ready. Frankly, after the ending of that premiere episode, I’m not so sure that album will be dropping as planned, though.
Leia (assistant): Rachel Sennott
Leia (who seems to be the most reasonable character on this show, IMO) is both Jocelyn’s assistant and best friend, as Jocelyn explains to Tedros when he comes over to her house. So far, it seems like she’s in charge of making sure Jocelyn gets places on time, doesn’t lose her stuff, and feels good about her upcoming music, but I have a feeling she’ll have more to do in the coming episodes.
Chaim and Destiny (co-managers): Hank Azaria and Da’Vine Joy Randolph
Jocelyn’s two managers seem to have extreme approaches to issues that come up (see: Chaim locking the intimacy coordinator in the bathroom after he tried to explain why Jocelyn can’t show her nipple on the album cover). They’re also both attempting to work out what to do after an NSFW photo of Jocelyn is leaked and goes viral online.
Xander (creative director): Troye Sivan
A fan-favorite of Gen Z, Sivan has returned to the screen (with an American accent!) as Xander, Jocelyn’s creative director who is tasked with bringing Jocelyn’s team’s vision for the album to life. That’s why we see him concerned with “what the image is saying” in the opening scene — his focus is mostly on Jocelyn as an artist.
Nikki (label executive): Jane Adams
Nikki represents Jocelyn’s label, and we meet her when she’s claiming to Xander that “mental illness is sexy” to defend the inclusion of Jocelyn’s hospital bracelet in the album cover. Yikes!
Benjamin (publicist): Dan Levy
Benjamin has a tough time in this premiere episode, thanks to that aforementioned NSFW photo. He’s busy working on spinning the story so that Jocelyn will be seen first as a victim, and then later as a feminist hero, based on the team’s conversation about the appropriate PR response to the scandal.
Dyanne (backup dancer): Jennie Kim
Kim, aka Jennie Ruby Jane, makes her acting debut in The Idol. She’s playing one of Jocelyn’s backup dancers, Dyanne — a fitting role for her, considering she’s a member of the globally successful K-pop girl group Blackpink IRL. Dyanne steps in for Jocelyn during dance practice when the choreographer wants Jocelyn to see how the performance should look. We see Jocelyn wiping away tears, but there doesn’t appear to be bad blood between Jocleyn and Dyanne, considering the pop star later tags along with Dyanne to go to Tedros’ club.
Andrew (Live Nation rep): Eli Roth
Andrew Finklestein shows up during the shoot to pressure Jocelyn’s team on behalf of Live Nation, since tickets to Jocelyn’s newly-announced shows aren’t selling and he’s worried that the viral photo, which his 15-year-old daughter sent to him, will mess up sales even more.
Talia (Vanity Fair reporter): Hari Nef
Though not officially on Jocelyn’s team, Talia has come to Jocelyn’s house to interview her. Her presence prompts Nikki to claim that “having her around is like living in communist China” because they have to watch what they say, one of the many lines from the premiere that had critics raising their eyebrows. Talia tells Jocelyn that she’s impressed by her, and it’s not exactly clear what her angle on this profile is as of now, but it’s sure to be interesting.
Tedros (???): Abel Tesfaye
Finally, we have Tedros, who is also not on Jocelyn’s team but seems to be setting himself up to play a huge role in her career (hence the question marks — seriously, what is this guy’s deal?). He owns the nightclub that Dyanne takes Jocelyn to, which is where they first meet, and he’s enigmatic but also rehearsed (he practices saying “hello, angel” to himself a few times before he actually greets Jocelyn), so it’s unclear what’s behind his mask, if anything. At the end of the episode, he puts a bag over her head and a knife in her mouth to cut a breathing hole, and I can only guess it’s going to get creepier from there.
If you want to find out what happens next — and how Jocleyn’s team will react to her getting closer to Tedros — you can watch The Idol on HBO or stream it on Max, with new episodes on Sundays.