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‘The Idol’ featuring BLACKPINK’s Jennie, premieres tonight

HBO’s latest Sunday-night drama series “The Idol” premieres tonight with a debut acting performance from Jennie, a member of the K-Pop group BLACKPINK.

HBO has released the following synopsis of the show on its website:

“After a nervous breakdown derailed Jocelyn’s (Lily-Rose Depp) last tour, she’s determined to claim her rightful status as the greatest and sexiest pop star in America. Her passions are reignited by Tedros (Abel ‘The Weeknd’ Tesfaye), a nightclub impresario with a sordid past. Will her romantic awakening take her to glorious new heights or the deepest and darkest depths of her soul?”

Jennie will play a character called Dyanne but not much else is known about her role. The singer and actress described the role as challenging.

“It definitely was a challenge, because I’ve never experienced anything like that before. It was like, breaking a wall for me,” she said in an interview with Billboard.

She also added that director Sam Levinson wanted her to just be herself.

“The fact that it was about the music industry fascinated me, and I thought I could bring something to the role,” she told Billboard. “It was an opportunity to just be myself and be brave. I didn’t really train for it, or prep anything. Sam wanted me to just be myself.”

In a separate interview with Apple Music 1’s Zane Lowe, The Weeknd, who is an executive producer on the show, praised Jennie’s performance.

“A lot of these musicians, like myself, are non-actors, and we all understand the world. … We’re all tapping into a place. And I think Jennie does it incredibly well on the show. I’m really proud of her,” he said, according to Billboard.

So far, “The Idol” has received plenty of bad press and bad reviews. In March, Rolling Stones published an article alleging the show had an extremely toxic on-set culture.

The article also noted that the show’s former director Amy Seimetz left the project last year and was replaced by Levinson after Seimetz’s vision for the show did not align with the producers’ vision.

“What I signed up for was a dark satire of fame and the fame model in the 21st century,” one production member, who was not named, told The Rolling Stones. “The things we subject our talent and stars to, the forces that put people in the spotlight and how that can be manipulated in the post-Trump world.”

“It went from satire to the thing it was satirizing.”

The Weeknd responded to criticism by posting a clip of his character calling the publication “irrelevant.”

Amid controversy, many fans are excited to simply watch Jennie.

AsAmNews is published by the non-profit, Asian American Media Inc. Follow us on FacebookX, InstagramTikTok and YouTube. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to support our efforts to produce diverse content about the AAPI communities. We are supported in part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library in partnership with the California Department of Social Services and the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs as part of the Stop the Hate program. To report a hate incident or hate crime and get support, go to CA vs Hate.

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