Sam Levinson & The Weeknd Talk Massive Reshoots For ‘The Idol’: “Quitting The Show Wasn’t An Option”

In the months leading up to the release of HBO’s new musical drama, “The Idol,” most of the discussion has little to do with the footage that has been shown. Instead, everyone is talking about the behind-the-scenes drama surrounding the making of the show, including the massive challenge of reshooting the entire season midway through production. And according to the two men leading the creation, as much as it was difficult to reshoot the show, that was the only option they saw in front of them.

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Speaking to W Magazine, Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye and Sam Levinson broke down the challenge of reshooting “The Idol,” a show about a pop star who gets involved with a modern-day cult leader, midway through the production of Season 1. While there seems to be quite a bit of disagreement about what actually happened, the basic story goes like this: Amy Seimetz was attached to help write and direct “The Idol.” She filmed multiple episodes, but Tesfaye, who co-created and stars in the series, was unhappy with the results. He talked with co-creator Sam Levinson about the idea of starting over and firing Seimetz. That happened, and after Levinson finished with Season 2 of “Euphoria,” he took over directing “The Idol.” 

“My secret skill is that I don’t panic,” Tesfaye explained. “When everyone around me is worried, I get very still. But I did panic when I lost my voice. I had to rest and reflect and think about The Weeknd and Tedros [his character on ‘The Idol’] and all that had happened with the show. I realized that I need to know that I’ve made the best version of whatever I’m making. It was a challenge to redo ‘The Idol,’ and, in truth, I sacrificed my health and home to make it work. So, let’s say it comes out and it’s fucking horrible. I still know I did my absolute best.”

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He added, “From what I’ve seen, the show is great. Everything is a risk: When you’ve done the best you can, I would call that a happy ending. And I got my voice back.”

Levinson would go on to explain that the only way the series could get reshot without spending more than HBO was willing to spend was to save money on locations. That meant Levinson would use Tesfaye’s real house as the primary location for the show. 

“Quitting the show wasn’t an option for Abel or me: It was a dream that we had together, and we had to see it through,” said Levinson. “If we were going to reshoot from the beginning, I knew it had to be for less money. Sitting in Abel’s house, looking around at the 40,000 square feet, I said, ‘It’s stunning here — you can’t buy production design like this. What if we shoot it here?’ Abel put down his drink and said, ‘Do you have insurance?’ I said yes. And he said, ‘I’m okay with it.’”

From there, Lily-Rose Depp (Tesfaye’s co-star in the show) decided to dye her hair blonde for the reshot season, and “The Idol” went through its overhaul. The results of this extended production and massive reshoots will be available to see for the first time at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. It will then debut on HBO on June 4.