It’ll be a long time before HBO’s misfire music series “The Idol” is associated with anything other than chaos, but its star, Abel Tesfaye aka The Weeknd, is at least taking away positive lessons from the experience. Speaking in a recent interview with Fader ahead of the release of his new film, “Hurry Up Tomorrow,” Tesfaye acknowledged that going into the project and knowing director Trey Edward Shults would be at the helm, he knew he couldn’t become as invested as he did on the failed TV show.
“I wanted to do my job as an actor,” Tesfaye said. “So make my piece with the idea, with the script, give whatever notes I have to give, but essentially it being his film, where I give him the material, he makes the movie he wants to make, and I get to just focus on being an actor and not give a fuck about what’s going on behind the scenes.”
Tesfaye went on to share that Shults’ way of directing from afar and never making himself too apparent while shooting a scene really allowed him to be in the moment, rather than dissect every choice he was making. This ultimately made for a much more enjoyable and efficient experience compared to “The Idol.”
“[Trey] really doesn’t want to get in the way of whatever is happening in front of the camera and it was a smoother process,” said Tesfaye. “I got to just focus on performing and doing what I do in front of the camera and stay in it, just stay in in the role.”
It also helped that he had close friends nearby to support him, including producer Kevin Turen, who sadly passed away two years ago after production had wrapped. Co-star Barry Keoghan is also a longtime friend of Tesfaye who helped ground the reality of their scenes.
“I knew he was the only one that can play this role because we were like brothers already,” he said. “So a lot of it didn’t feel like acting, I got to just be with my brother in that moment. And Jenna [Ortega] as well. Jenna just was so patient with me and just gave incredible notes and she’s just doing so much heavy lifting in the film that it just felt like I was in a in a great space to just perform.”
Ultimately, Tesfaye was “blown away” by the first cut Shults delivered, providing a “very cathartic” experience as the film reflected some his own experiences with sleep paralysis and losing his voice.
Watch Tesfaye’s full Fader interview below
“Hurry Up Tomorrow” releases in theaters May 16 from Lionsgate.
