Here's everything we know about Lily-Rose Depp, the star of the controversial new show 'The Idol' (2024)

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She's the eldest daughter of Johnny Depp and French singer Vanessa Paradis.

Lily-Rose was born on May 27, 1999. Her younger brother, John III, was born three years later onApril 9, 2002.

Depp and Paradis never wed and announced their breakupin June 2012 after 14 years together.

"The last couple years have been a bit bumpy," Depptold Rolling Stone in 2013. "At times, certainly unpleasant, but that's the nature of breakups, I guess, especially when there are kiddies involved."

He also discussed the birth of Lily-Rose in the cover story.

"It really was as if a veil was lifted, and things became clearer, and I went, 'Oh, I f---ing get it now! That's what it's for! That's what it's for, this beautiful little creature that I took part in creating, making,'" the actor said. "As long as you have the opportunity to make your kid smile and laugh, and move it forward."

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She never graduated high school.

In 2016,Lily-Rose left her exclusive Los Angeles prep school before completing her senior year.

"[My parents] both left school when they were 15, so they can't really say anything," she told Vogue UK in 2016. "I've never thought of university as my goal. I've always just wanted to work and be independent. I didn't have any incentive to keep doing all that work."

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She has followed in her mother's footsteps.

Lily-Rose has consistently used her mother as inspiration. In 2017, she mimicked old photographs of Paradis for a photo shoot with CR Fashion Book.

"Steven Klein had shot these amazing photographs of my mom when she was around my age," Lily-Rose explained. "We shot in front of a mirror with the pictures taped to it. I have a similar grungy look."

💘 Rp @lukegilford : I’ve been thinking a lot about the idea of intimacy. It’s an important element in my work and a feeling I often try to convey in my films and photographs. I believe intimacy is developed the same way as a relationship - through mutual trust & respect, and over time. True intimacy cannot be forced and it’s not a one way street. It is so powerful because it takes a real connection to exist, and real connections take work, patience, and love. With this in mind, my friend Lily Rose Depp and I decided to start a new series of photographs together. We shared references over the course of weeks, many of them of her mother — obviously a very personal process for Lily. We went and bought a wig inspired by a shoot her mother had done decades before, and spent a couple days hanging out and taking photos together at home. It was just the two of us and our friend Walker, no crew whatsoever. The images of her in bed and crying especially move me because they are so honest. This experience was so inspiring because it reminded me how rewarding it is to collaborate with friends, and how meaningful it is to create authentic trust and intimacy. ❤️

A post shared by Lily-Rose Depp (@lilyrose_depp) on Jan 17, 2018 at 10:23am PSTJan 17, 2018 at 10:23am PST

Most notably, the young model has followed her mother down the Chanel runway. Paradis became the face of the legendary fashion house at age 19, and she raised her daughter to have the same passion.

Depp still idolizes her mother.

In a recent interview with I-D, she said: "Whenever I see old photos of her, I'm like, 'Ugh. That's what I look like in my dreams.' She'll send me photos of her when she was younger, and say things like, 'We're twins.' And I'm like, 'You're so much prettier than me.' She's so beautiful."

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She became the youngest-ever face of Chanel at age 16 and had a close relationship with Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld.

"I met Karl when I was eight and I had horrible side bangs — like a Donald Trump comb-over," she told Vogue UK in 2015.

"She used to come to the Chanel studio with her mother. She was a very sweet child, but who would have thought she would have such a strong and defined personality this early on?" he told the outlet. "Lily-Rose is a young girl from a new generation with all the qualities of a star."

In 2015, she made her first official appearance for the brand in a casino-themed couture show.

#allin

A post shared by Lily-Rose Depp (@lilyrose_depp) on Sep 28, 2015 at 3:42pm PDTSep 28, 2015 at 3:42pm PDT

Days later, Lily-Rose was named the newest ambassador of the storied French house and became the face of its Pearl eyewear collection and its Chanel No. 5 perfume.

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She was named a rising star in the fashion industry at 18.

In addition to her role as the face of Chanel, Depp's also modeled for a slew of magazines. Since making her debut in Australian magazine Oyster in April 2015, she has appeared on the covers of LOVE magazine,Vogue France, ELLE France, Vogue UK,CR Fashion Book,Vogue Japan, andVogue Russia.

At 18 years old, Lily-Rose was named to the Business of Fashion 500,the "definitive professional index of the people shaping the $2.4 trillion fashion industry," according to the publication's website.

"Lily-Rose Depp is currently the youngest Chanel brand ambassador to front global campaigns for the French house, acting as the most visible conduit between the French fashion house and the Gen Z consumer," her entry reads.

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In August 2015, she took part in the Self Evident Project, which many interpreted as her "coming out."

The project describes itself as "a photographic document of 10,000 people in the USA that identify as ANYTHING OTHER than 100% straight."

The campaign claimed that Depp "falls somewhere on the vast spectrum."

I'm so proud of my baby girl @lilyrose_depp. She decided she wanted to be in @selfevidentproject because she falls somewhere on the vast spectrum, and I couldn't be happier to welcome her to the family. She's a tiny gem of a good human. #prouduncle #weareyou

A photo posted by iO Tillett Wright (@iolovesyou) on Aug 22, 2015 at 2:46pm PDTAug 22, 2015 at 2:46pm PDT

She later clarified her participation after she received some feedback.

"That was really misconstrued, that whole thing. A lot of people took it as me coming out, but that's not what I was trying to do," she told Nylon. "I was literally doing it just to say that you don't have to label your sexuality; so many kids these days are not labeling their sexuality and I think that's so cool."

"If you like something one day then you do, and if you like something else the other day, it's whatever," she continued. "You don't have to label yourself, because it's not set in stone... I guess it came off the wrong way, because then everyone labeled me as gay. That's not what I was trying to say."

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She often splits her time between Los Angeles and Paris, and is fluent in French.

"I feel pretty connected to both cultures," Depp told CR Fashion Book. "I can seem fully French when I'm in France or totally like a Valley girl when I'm in LA."

Depp portrayed themodern dance pioneer Isadora Duncan for the 2016 French film "The Dancer." After taking on "Planetarium," in which the actors speak in both French and English, she acted in two all-French movies.

Eve👼🏼 L’homme Fidèle un film de Louis Garrel avec @laetitiacasta 💘 Bientôt

A post shared by Lily-Rose Depp (@lilyrose_depp) on Aug 15, 2018 at 9:27am PDTAug 15, 2018 at 9:27am PDT

"French scripts have a certain sensibility to them, with the writing style and the depth that the characters have," she told Portman for CR Fashion Book's cover story. "I like movies that spark your imagination and your curiosity and I find that the kind of depth that French scripts and characters have often leads to that."

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She originally wanted to be a singer, and even has songwriting experience.

Depp is credited as a lyricist on her mother's 2013 album "Love Songs." She co-wrote the track "New Year" — and came up with the song's melody when she was 6, Paradis told The Telegraph.

"I wanted to be a singer, but once I started acting, I felt so comfortable. Now all I want to do is act," Depp told Vanity Fair.

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She made her acting debut in 2014 with a cameo in "Tusk," a role written for her by writer and director Kevin Smith.

Lily-Rose is close with Harley Quinn, Smith's daughter, who starred alongside her in the horror-comedy. She then went on to star in Smith's "Yoga Hosers," a spin-off sequel to "Tusk."

"I've been best friends with [Quinn] since I was five," she told Vogue UK.

"At the end of the day of filming 'Tusk,' Johnny [Depp] was like, 'If we were smart, we'd retire and live off these girls,'" Kevin Smith, the director, told People. "I took that rather seriously."

Natalie Portman, who starred alongside Depp in the 2017 film "Planetarium," has spoken glowingly of the teen's acting chops.

"She's daring artistically," Portman told Vogue UK. "She has a very emotional scene in the film where she has to lose control and she went for it. When I was a teenage girl I was much more self-conscious."

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In 2019 she starred in "The King" alongside Timothée Chalamet — who she was reportedly dating at the time.

The two French-American actors starred in the Netflix film "The King," based on Shakespeare's "King Henry IV" and were reportedly dating at the time. Chalamet stars as Henry V and Lily-Rose co-stars as his wife, Catherine of Valois, Queen consort of England.

Depp never confirmed the relationship, though the two were often spotted out together.

"I never like revealing too much about myself," Lily-Rose told Vogue UK. "Once you start giving people that look into your life, then they just want more and more."

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Depp knows she didn't grow up like other kids.

Given the outsized interest in "nepo babies," Depp is careful when she talks about what she's accomplished. In an interview with I-D, she said: "I feel like my parents did the best job that they possibly could at giving me the most 'normal childhood' that they could. And obviously, that still was not a normal childhood. I'm super aware of the fact that my childhood did not look like everybody's."

"But at the same time," she continued, "it's all that I know, so I have had to find comfort in it somehow. I'm really lucky that I've been surrounded by people who value normalcy and who value real life and I think that's the only way to exist in this world and not go insane."

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Depp is taking on her first TV role as Jocelyn in "The Idol."

Depp stars in the show as the troubled pop star Jocelyn, who is taken in by a manipulative club promoter-cum-cult leader, played by Abel "The Weeknd" Tesfaye.

While reviews of the show have been mixed-to-negative, citing the show's exploitative tone and trouble with director Sam Levinson's scripts, Depp has spoken highly of her time on the production.

In a 2022 interview with Elle, she said Levinson created a "magical" environment on set.

"The way he'll come up with things on the fly and just try things," she said, "it feels like the most beautiful, magical, creative playground that I've ever been on. It's a beautiful process working with him, because he draws from the person who's right in front of him and what he already sees in you as a person, and he finds ways to weave that into your character. He has a really good eye for that."