The psychological thriller Hurry Up Tomorrow, starring Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye, is in theaters now. While Abel starred in the 2023 HBO series The Idol, this marks the first time that he’s carried an entire film by himself. But as director Trey Edward Shults revealed, he didn’t see the series before he started working with Abel.
“When we shot this, we shot it before The Idol was even out,” Shults told ABC Audio at the film’s New York City premiere. “The only thing I had seen him act in were his music videos. But I connected with him.”
And Abel says that connection made it easy for him to play a character on the verge of a mental breakdown.
“I mean, once I got to work with Trey … I’ve been a huge fan of his work,” the singer told ABC Audio on the red carpet. “So all I needed to do was trust him and connect with the material. And at that [point], it wasn’t too challenging, I think, being vulnerable.”
He then turned to Trey and told him, “You created a safe space.”
Hurry Up Tomorrow is a companion piece to The Weeknd’s #1 album of the same name. But as he told ABC Audio, the album was the most challenging part of the whole project.
“We made the film first, and we had a few songs that we had recorded, ideas that we needed to see on the screen. But aside from that, everything else was up in the air,” Abel explained. “So, kind of replacing material with brand-new music was really tough for me.”
“And never wanting to settle,” Shults added. “We always wanted to push something sonically to a place that was fresh and singular and new.”
“That was really important,” agreed Abel.
The film also stars Barry Keoghan and Jenna Ortega.
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