The Weeknd Used His Real $70 Million Mansion While Filming ‘The Idol’
The Weeknd didn’t only lend his name to HBO’s new controversial show The Idol, but also his real-life home. The mansion used as Lily-Rose Depp’s character Jocelyn’s home is owned by The Weeknd.
Located in Bel Air, the singer’s mansion features 30,000 square feet of living space, allowing it to easily accommodate the show’s production. It comes with a variety of compelling features, including a movie theatre, infinity pool and waterfall, indoor pool, sauna, and a music studio. The property comes on 1.6 acres of land.
The Weeknd bought the property in 2021 for $70 million – a large chunk of the singer’s reported $300 million net worth. Architectural Digest reports that the home was one of the most expensive real estate transactions in Los Angeles at the time.
The Idol’s co-creator Dan Levinson (who’s also a writer and produced on Euphoria) explained that the decision to film at The Weekend’s host was mainly about saving money.
“If we were going to reshoot from the beginning, I knew it had to be for less money,” he told W magazine. “Sitting in Abel’s house, looking around at the 40,000 square feet, I said, ‘It’s stunning here—you can’t buy production design like this. What if we shoot it here?’”
“Abel put down his drink and said, ‘Do you have insurance?’ I said yes. And he said, ‘I’m okay with it,’” Sam went on.
At one point, the television executive admits he “essentially moved into” The Weekend’s house, along with his wife and child. Conversely, the pop star moved out of the mansion to make filming smoother.
Apparently, a lot of temporary renovations had to be done to prepare the home for filming.
“The bedrooms were now greenrooms; the bathrooms were for hair and makeup,” The Weekend told W. “We built a music studio in the basement so Mike Dean, who helped compose, and I could score the show while we were filming.”
The Weeknd has been open about how much he put into filming The Idol, both mentally and physically. Last month, he admitted the project made him realize it may be time to retire his musical alter ego for bigger things.
Even more, the musician would apparently get so into his character on set, that Lily-Rose Depp admitted to intentionally avoiding him.
The new show has been met with a variety of controversy, from troubles onset and accusations of toxic masculinity. But what is clear is that the drama surrounding the HBO original has certainly piqued a lot of interest.
Sources: Architectural Digest, W Magazine,
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