The Weeknd Wants To Act More Despite Bad Reviews Of ‘The Idol’

The Weeknd has revealed his true life’s ardour… and surprisingly, it’s not music. The “Starboy” musician admitted that his rise to superstardom within the music trade was actually simply “somewhat detour” he used to pursue his primary ardour.

The Weeknd, actual identify Abel Tesfaye, sat alongside his “Hurry Up Tomorrow” co-star Jenna Ortega and director Trey Edward Shults the place he mentioned how his embellished music profession has led him to starring in his upcoming musical movie, “Hurry up Tomorrow.” The film — primarily based on his sixth and last studio album beneath The Weeknd stage identify — serves as a soundtrack to the extremely anticipated movie.

Described as a “suspense thriller,” the movie follows a world pop star “stricken by insomnia” and “pulled into an odyssey with a stranger who begins to unravel the very core of his existence. They story is loosely impressed by Tesfaye’s personal profession.

He confessed how, “Cinema has at all times, for me, it’s at all times sort of been my primary ardour. I occur to sing and make music and it sort of felt like somewhat detour, somewhat cheat code to sort of get into this. I at all times wished to make motion pictures and I at all times wished to make music with motion pictures.” He added: “Throughout that journey, you at all times sort of hear and see the DNA of cinema in my albums and my music movies, and my performances on my stage. It’s at all times simply been part of me.”

The star’s breakout performing function got here in 2023 on HBO’s “The Idol,” which obtained blended critiques and criticism for each the plot and his performing chops. That stated, the pop mega star admitted that “The Idol” didn’t fairly really feel prefer it was his, whereas “Hurry Up Tomorrow” introduced the enjoyment again into filmmaking. “I’m like, ‘Yeah! I do wish to do that…that is nice,’ ” the star stated with a relieved giggle.

Tesfaye’s choice to retire his stage identify got here throughout a time his voice started to fail him, describing the movie as a “guiding mild” to push him ahead to the following step in his profession. “It felt like I had nothing else to say,” the 35-year-old revealed. “I used to be on stage and it’s like, I’ve stated the whole lot I can say as this particular person. Now it’s time for me to take that subsequent step.”

Whereas Tesfaye’s breakout function could have left followers lower than impressed, many are gearing as much as see what’s subsequent for him on this “deliberately mysterious” thoughts bending thriller, co-written by the music artist.

Since kicking off his profession with acclaimed mixtape “Home of Balloons,” Tesfaye has reportedly taken residence a complete of 176 awards out of 513 nominations together with Grammy, Billboard, American Music, and MTV Awards.

“Hurry Up Tomorrow” is about to launch in theaters Might 16.

This story initially appeared on The Root, our sister website, on Thursday, Might 8.