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Jun 02, 2023

Lily

The "Blinding Lights" singer temporarily moved out of his $70 million mansion so the drama series could be shot in it

Stephane Cardinale - Corbis; HBO/Max

Lily-Rose Depp's The Idol character hits close to home for her costar Abel "The Weeknd" Tesfaye.

On the show, aspiring pop star Jocelyn, portrayed by the 24-year-old actress, lives in Tesfaye's actual Bel Air mansion, a new Max featurette revealed.

According to Architectural Digest, the $70 million, 33,000-square-feet mansion, purchased by the 33-year-old singer two years ago, is outfitted with a movie theater, gym, sauna and indoor pool. In other words, it provides the perfect digs for the stylish, young artist Depp portrays in the new music-industry drama.

HBO/MAX

The home is also equipped with an outdoor pool fit for Hollywood royalty — an infinity design complete with a waterfall — which can be seen in the streamer's first behind-the-scenes look at the series.

According to AD, Tesfaye's purchase marked one of the priciest home sales in Los Angeles in 2021.

The singer's mansion was not originally intended to be one of the show's most important settings — or even appear on screen at all.

After watching the initial iteration of the show, Tesfaye and series cocreator Sam Levinson were unsatisfied, and decided that they had to start almost entirely from scratch.

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"If we were going to reshoot from the beginning, I knew it had to be for less money," Levinson, 38, told W Magazine last month. "Quitting the show wasn't an option for Abel or me. It was a dream that we had together and we had to see it through."

While sitting in the "Starboy" singer's Bel Air home, the Euphoria creator told W Magazine he suggested they reshoot there.

He said that Tesfaye "put down his drink and asked, ‘Do you have insurance?’"

"I said yes," Levinson continued. "And he said, ‘I’m okay with it.’"

According to the magazine, just a few weeks later, the entire cast and crew had relocated to the Grammy winner's Bel Air mansion — and Tesfaye had moved out.

HBO/MAX

"I had to stay in character," the singer, whose character Tedros (Jocelyn's sleazy love interest) marks his first major acting role, told the outlet. "I took my dog and we lived in another house. My home belonged to the show."

In his interview with W , Tesfaye said that his home became a "hub of activity" during the reshoots — bedrooms and bathrooms were converted into greenrooms and stations for hair and makeup, and an entire music studio was set up for the show's composer in his basement. By the time shooting was done and everyone had left, the singer said it was "weird."

"I changed all the furniture," he told the outlet. "I replastered the walls. But the soul of Jocelyn's house is still in there."

The first episode of The Idol is streaming now on Max.

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