Olivia Rodrigo just said what a lot of people thought about when they watched HBO's The Idol.
In an interview with the Guardian, the "Vampire" singer talked about the complexities of being a “pop star” in the public eye and gave her take on the controversial, recently canceled HBO show about a pop star grappling with her career and fame.
When asked about whether Olivia had watched The Idol, she answered, "Oh no. I don’t have the desire to."
"I remember walking out of Barbie and being like, 'Wow, it’s so long since I’ve seen a movie that is female-centered in a way that isn’t sexual or about her pain or her being traumatized,'" Olivia said.
According to a production source, who worked on The Idol before it was re-hauled by Sam Levinson and The Weeknd, the original premise was "a dark satire of fame and the fame model in the 21st century."
Olivia, in regards to her pop-stardom, talked about the meaning behind the label. “There’s such an archetype of what a ‘pop star’ should be,” she said. “I never really thought of myself as that, it’s the term that people throw around. Things you should wear and do and how you should be accessible at all times. And ‘date this person and do that.'”
She also talked about the process of "separating person from persona," and how that can be strange when "you become successful and get noticed for songs that are super raw and intimate." It leads to "people [feeling] like they really know you — and they do, but not in the way that your friends or family would know you." It's a "tricky situation," she said.
Regarding her own "pop legacy," Olivia concluded, “There’s no rulebook. That’s the beauty and the anxiety of this job. You forge your own path.”
You can read the full interview here. Her sophomore album, Guts, drops September 8.
