The Weeknd, who is known for hits like “Blinding Lights” and “Starboy,” is already making his way into the world of TV, and he has plans for where he’ll take his music next that don’t involve his famous stage name.
The singer will be playing the role of a cult leader named Tedros, on the upcoming HBO show The Idol. The character Tedros will be starting a complicated relationship with Lily-Rose Depp’s character, Jocelyn, who wishes to be a singer.
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There have been claims regarding the show’s production going through a lot of delays and rewrites.
In a recent interview with W Magazine, he talked about how controversial the show was. He said:
I’ve been judged since the beginning. My stuff’s always, kind of, been provocative…
As an artist, you have to know that you can’t please everybody, and you have to accept that it comes with the job.
The Weeknd, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, also said in the interview that he thinks he has outgrown the name and that he is going through a “cathartic” path right now.
He told the outlet:
It’s getting to a place and a time where I’m getting ready to close The Weeknd chapter.
I’ll still make music, maybe as Abel, maybe as The Weeknd. But I still want to kill The Weeknd. And I will. Eventually. I’m definitely trying to shed that skin and be reborn.
He continued:
The album I’m working on now is probably my last hurrah as The Weeknd.
This is something that I have to do. As The Weeknd, I’ve said everything I can say.
It already seemed the famous “Starboy” music video was a re-introduction of The Weeknd in a new form by killing off the “old” one.
Tesfaye said that after his meteoric rise to fame in the music business, he is looking forward to trying out more creative ideas in the future.
Film and TV is a new creative muscle for me,
he told W.
I don’t release my music until I think it is great. Why would this be any different?
The Weeknd said that he struggled a lot to get to the “top of the music industry.” He said that he felt like “all the odds are against me.”
I’ve always been an underdog—in the beginning, the music business was not easy. I had to fight to get to the top of the mountain,
he added.
The Idol is scheduled to air on Max on June 4.
