Alleged Photos From A Pre-Sam Levinson Version Of "The Idol" Are Going Viral, And Some Fans Are Saying It Actually Looks Good
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Even if you have never seen an episode of The Idol, you've likely encountered its general vibe. Like, ooh, so dark! So tortured! From the "twisted minds" of Sam Levinson and Abel "The Weeknd" Tesfaye! Someone alert the church elders!
My air of sarcasm is coming from the numerous reviews that called the show exceedingly dull, but I digress.
The backstory surrounding the production of The Idol is undeniably entwined with the show itself. The HBO series was originally directed by Amy Seimetz, known for The Girlfriend Experience and She Dies Tomorrow, but she suddenly left production with around 80% of the show shot. Reports suggested that the ensuing creative overhaul was because Abel, the show's co-creator and male lead, said it had too much of a "female perspective."
"The Idol’s creative team continues to build, refine, and evolve their vision for the show and they have aligned on a new creative direction. The production will be adjusting its cast and crew accordingly to best serve this new approach to the series," a spokesperson for HBO said at the time.
Enter Sam, who scrapped reportedly $54–75 million worth of the nearly-finished project. His rewrites and reshoots, according to one person involved with production who spoke to Rolling Stone, took the show "from satire to the thing it was satirizing." The publication described the original show as being about a "troubled starlet falling victim to a predatory industry figure and fighting to reclaim her own agency."
“Amy was doing her best in an impossible situation, but she was going to lose this no matter what," one production member said of Amy's work on The Idol, with alleged incomplete scripts, an inexperienced showrunner, low budgets, "near-impossible" network expectations, and tight schedules all cited.
As such, you may be wondering what Amy's version of The Idol looked like. Lo and behold: some images allegedly from the set of the show started going viral on Twitter.
bts of the original direction of “The Idol” pic.twitter.com/tJmK3njRMf
— M!RI (@whitney_jewston) July 4, 2023
It's unclear where these photos originated from.
Some pointed out that the images are likely a flashback or an expansion on Jocelyn’s past as a child star.
— autumnミ☆🩸 (@autumnasasadboy) July 5, 2023
Furthermore, Juliebeth Gonzalez, one of the original cast members, appeared to have images from Amy's shoot on her Instagram:
It's safe to say, the vibes are different:
As such, many said that they would have wanted to see the original version:
the original version of the idol could’ve been grown up hannah montana type girly girl show had they left it alone! pic.twitter.com/duwEK1WdZZ
— khalia. | FLO’S 3 of us EP 🧸🌺 (@VERONASFILMS) July 5, 2023
this makes me so upset cause you can tell the original plot of the idol had a genuine vision pic.twitter.com/NPPk1WX5dT
— kamani ☆ (@TEXASTITTIE) July 5, 2023
ugh this could’ve been such an incredible commentary on misogyny and exploitation in the music industry but instead it literally BECAME that
— kendall whitmore (@kenwhitmore16) July 5, 2023
i hate the male gaze
— xime | sntv ! (@ifavred) July 5, 2023
