The Weeknd Wasted The Idol's Potential The Moment He Signed Up

While HBO's The Idol is absolutely one of the most popular TV shows to come out this year, that has nothing to do with the series' quality, as millions of people tuned in to watch the show just to find out if all the rumors about insane amounts of nudity and violent content were actually true.

Obviously, they are true, as co-creators Sam Levinson and Abel Tesfaye, aka The Weeknd, did everything in their power to make their project look and feel as sleazy as possible, and The Weeknd's performance as cult leader Tedros helped to achieve that goal. But was the singer any good in the role?

Throughout the first four episodes of the show, people bashed Abel's acting, arguing that the pop star had no acting chops and that his character came off as a silly caricature instead of a feared cult leader. Although the series' final twist, in which Lily-Rose Depp's Jocelyn was revealed to be the real villain while Tedros was just her puppet, explained some aspects of The Weeknd's performance, many fans still feel that his involvement with the project ruined the potential of the once-promising show.

'There was so much potential with this show. The twist would've hit harder had we really seen any real chemistry outside of sex between Lily and The Weeknd,' a fan noted on Reddit. 'We also knew almost nothing about the cult followers other than they were all talented. It would've been nice to see that power dynamic play out from the beginning with Lily slowly hinting that she was the one in control.'

It seems that The Weeknd's lack of acting skills prevented him from making his character feel more sinister and alive, instead relegating Tedros to the realm of forgettable villains. Besides, his involvement with The Idol seems to have stolen the spotlight from every other performer, hurting the series' chances of becoming anything more than a vanity project for one of today's most popular pop stars.

Let's hope The Weeknd's next big role forces him to approach acting with a lot more care. The singer's new untitled project, directed by Trey Edward Shults and starring Wednesday star Jenna Ortega, is currently in post-production.

Source: Reddit.