Lily-Rose Depp and The Weeknd explore the dark side of celebrity at Cannes press conference HBOcontroversial sexy pop star drama series of Sculpturefollowing the world premiere of the first two episodes of the limited series at the Cannes Film Festival on Monday night.
depp in the stars Sculpture As Jocelyn, a Britney Spears-like rags-to-riches pop star in distress following the death of her mother. To make matters worse, an ex-boyfriend has posted a candid photo of her online, further damaging her reputation. In her weakened state, she is seduced by Tedros, a charismatic leader of an NXIVM-like cult, played by Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye in his TV acting debut.
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Tesfaye, who co-produced Sculpture Together Excitement Producers Levinson and Reza Faheem were joined by Depp, Levinson, and several co-stars from the series, including Hank Azaria and Da’Vin Joy Randolph, who play Jocelyn’s co-managers Chaim (Azaria) and Destiny (Randolph), respectively. Let’s fulfill and Jane Adams, who gives a series-stealing performance as the sharp-tongued label executive Nikki.
The dark drama/satire of the entertainment industry has been controversial for both its on-screen portrayal of sex and debauchery – though by Cannes’ standards – and reports of behind-the-scenes turmoil in the show’s production.
The series follows an explosive ear Rolling stone Characteristics about the six-episode limited series included members of the cast and crew claiming the production was plagued by last-minute revisions and a chaotic work environment. The story also said that after the original director Amy Seimetz was replaced with Levinson., the play’s approach changed, from a satire skewering the wrong and violent nature of the music business to become something closer to a poisoned man’s fantasy. Depp and Tesfaye both have denied the allegations On-set troubles.
“It’s always a little sad and disappointing to see such cheap, untrue things about someone that you really care about and who you know isn’t,” Depp said at Cannes.
“We know we are making a show that is thought-provoking. It’s not lost on us, but it’s a weird one,” added Levinson, referring to reports of turmoil on set. “Because when my wife read the article to me. I told her ‘I think we’re going to spend the summer. He is going to do the biggest show. in terms of the specifics of what was in it. It felt completely foreign to me. But I know who I am… people can write whatever they want. If I have the slightest objection, it is that they deliberately Also left it out which was not in line with his statement. But I think we’ve seen a lot of that lately.”
Azaria also defended Levinson, saying that reports of “on-set chaos” were a misunderstanding of the director’s spontaneous and creative approach.
“It would be like going on the set of curb Your Enthusiasm Or a Judd Apatow movie, where people are improvising brilliantly and saying, ‘Oh, they must not know their lines.’ I’ve been on many a bad set; It was quite the opposite. For the first time in many years, I felt challenged.”
Adams said, “I agree 100 percent.” “I feel very strongly about it. It’s been one of the best creative experiences I’ve ever had.” She said she was getting “very upset” about the discussions about the “chaos” of the show. “Can’t we just create, can’t we have freedom of thought? Can’t things go wrong?”
“I initially wanted to make a dark twisted fairy tale about the music industry and elevate it,” Tesfaye said. “[Sam and I]really wanted to see if we could do our own thing, using our experiences, using Lily’s experiences from her point of view, to create something special, daring, exciting, fun. Pop stars can make people laugh and make some people angry.
Tesfaye said that he has never met someone like Tetros in the music industry. “That’s Dracula,” he said.
“It’s about how the world views a pop star and the pressure it puts on that person. “There’s a lot of pressure to be consistent and be who everyone wants you to be,” Levinson said. “And I also think it’s a lonely life. We can all pretend that everyone’s looking out for somebody’s best interests, but I think fame really corrupts. I think that automatically It’s too easy to surround ourselves with myth makers, and I think there’s something very scary in that.
Depp reflected on how much life is reflected in art in the series, drawing parallels between Jocelyn’s struggles and her own perspective as the daughter of celebrity and superstar actor Johnny Depp and French actress and singer Vanessa Paradis. Happened.
“I think it’s just about the people you surround yourself with,” she said. “It’s something we see my character actively doing on the show, those people struggle with.” doing who she’s keeping around and wondering if they’re telling her the truth.”[It’s]about surrounding yourself with good people.
Reflecting on the explicit sex scenes in the film, Levinson said that “we live in a very sexualized world” and that the series was a reflection of the “pornification” of American pop culture.
“Particularly in the States, the influence of pornography is really strong in terms of the psyche of young people in the States. And we see it in pop music and how it reflects the underbelly of the Internet in some ways,” Levinson said. “I think with this show and working with Lily, we had a lot of discussions about who she is as a person, Jocelyn as a person[and]sexuality from that point on. That comes out of character. … I think that’s absolutely true of what almost every pop star is doing nowadays.
Talking about the on-set process of shooting these explicit scenes, Depp said that he “didn’t feel very involved in these kinds of conversations, and I felt that I needed to be involved in the creation of this character, from the inside out.” The privilege was granted from outside. In.”
Azaria joked that he was constantly defending Depp on set. “I was always trying to put blankets over him, asking: ‘Are you cold?’ “Just stopped for a while.”
Randolph defended the show as “female forward”.
The six-part series, which airs June 4 on HBO and the company’s streaming service Max, received a mixed reception from critics at its world premiere in Cannes on Monday night. definitely mixed and the usually enthusiastic gala-goers of Cannes surprisingly silent, but series director and co-creator levinsonClearly moved by the experience, he began choking in his thank-you speech after the screening.
“It’s the biggest dream come true, I think we were all overwhelmed and overwhelmed by the response,” he said, noting that he first heard about the French film festival when he was 10 years old. “I didn’t know much about world cinema but I knew about pulp Fiction, (and) that he won an award for this freak movie I wasn’t allowed to see. (Through him) I learned about the Cannes Film Festival, I discovered French cinema and world cinema and I had this dream of coming here. And last night was one of the most touching and emotional experiences I’ve ever had.
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