Lily-Rose Depp – An Idol Rising

Lily-Rose Depp reflects on fame, privacy and growing up as she channels her inner pop star in photos inspired by her edgy new HBO series

- By Véronique Hyland. Photographed by Felix Cooper

Jocelyn is a machine. Jocelyn gyrates like a Tilt-A-Whirl and favors spangled outfits that look like they're held together by dental floss. Underboob, throngs of paparazzi, nightclubs, cocaine, and S&M feature prominently in her lifestyle, at least if the trailer for HBO's upcoming blockbuster series The Idol is anything to go by.

Jocelyn also couldn't be further from the self-effacing woman I'm speaking to, who (a) apologizes for being a few minutes late to our interview because she's dealing with a gastrointestinally challenged cat, and (b) goes on to note how important punctuality is to her. Later today, on set, she'll transform back into the vampish pop star, but right now, at her mom's place in Los Angeles, Lily-Rose Depp is dressed down in a plain black camisole, her shoulder-length hair slightly tousled. The only thing she seems to share with her character is a sultry voice, which sounds as if a Juul took human form. But when she stepped into Jocelyn's platform stilettos, the 23-year-old model and actress found that singing and memorizing choreography weren't the biggest challenges to completing her pop-princess metamorphosis.

"It was more about understanding how alone you can feel, even when everybody's watching you," Depp says. Think of the moments of mundane heartache that run beneath the surface of otherwise glamorous lives: Katy Perry sobbing under the stage in Katy Perry: Part of Me; Madonna taking time out from her Blonde Ambition tour to visit her mother's grave in Madonna: Truth or Dare; or any paparazzi footage of Britney Spears circa 2007. The titular idol of the series-co-created and executive produced by Sam Levinson (Euphoria), Abel Tesfaye, aka The Weeknd, and Reza Fahim-isn't explicitly modeled after any of these women, though Depp does name-check Madonna, Spears, and Mariah Carey as reference points.