Back in episode two of The Idol, which feels like a long, long time ago now, given the creators’ prioritising of terrible sex scenes over any discernible idea of a plot, we were given a snippet of information about the before times of troubled pop star Jocelyn, pre-Tedros.
Her BFF/assistant/enabler Leia (Rachel Sennott) says that Joss (Lily-Rose Depp) was dating an actor known as “heartthrob Rob” but he cheated on her and dumped her. It felt like a throwaway line at the time, but fast-forward to episode four, and we finally got to meet the man himself.
So, what’s Rob’s deal? what can we learn about Joss from him, and more importantly, where the hell do you recognise him from?
Heartthrob Rob
After Joss finds out that Dyanne (Jennie Kim) set up the meeting with Tedros (Abel Tesfaye) in the club (also: most likely shagging) and that Dyanne had been given the sound of the summer song, World Class Sinner, she texts for Rob (Karl Glusman) to come over.
He turns up, is challenged to a vodka-slamming competition with Tedros, who then inexplicably starts trying out ninja moves on him (I’m sure this was funnier in Tesfaye’s head when he was writing it). He eventually manages to escape and heads up to Jocelyn’s boudoir.
He tells her that he’s surprised to hear from her (“What did I do to deserve a text back?”) and says he regrets leaving to film a superhero movie. This is the first indication that Joss may not have been telling the truth to her people and the public about their split, and may have manipulated the truth so people would have sympathy for her.
Rob didn’t have any idea that Jocelyn was being abused by her mum (after she announced it to her fans on Insta stories earlier that day) and reminds her that she’s been ignoring him for a month, has changed her phone number and has been getting Leia to fob him off.
A naked Joss then “puts some clothes on”, a skimpy black strap and metal chain underwear set that she was going to wear when she visited him in Germany (to be fair, very Berghain), but that was before he “fucked his co-star and broke her delicate little heart”.
Related Story
That’s when Rob reveals that she was the one who had said it was boring to be monogamous and Joss purrs (with the ever-present cigarette in hand, of course) that she takes it back.
Rob, killing the mood, then talks about her dead mum, saying that Jocelyn was always so gentle with her, giving her baths, and sympathises with her how awful it is. Is Rob a… good guy? She says that she’s in a good place.
He tells her he has to leave in five hours for the press tour for his movie and asks her to come with him, and she turns him down, despite being offered a ride there in his private jet.
There’s a cliched shagging scene by the fireplace, in which he tells her (in a foreboding way?): “That’s what I love most about you, when you want something you find a way to get it.”
Who plays Rob?
That would be actor Karl Glusman, who is no stranger to appearing in sexually graphic productions. His big breakthrough was in 2015, when he starred in the lead role of Murphy in Gaspar Noé’s Love. Love famously contained many, many unsimulated sex scenes (Noé said that some were real, some were fake, leaving it up to the viewer to discern between them), so he was the perfect actor for Sam Levinson and co. to cast for their own sexfest ofa production.
Outside of that controversial film, Glusman has also appeared in Devs as Sergei, Nocturnal Animals, Greyhound and God Is a Bullet. He also married Zoe Kravitz in 2019, but they divorced 18 months later.
The Idol concludes next weekend and can be streamed on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV.
Laura Martin is a freelance journalist specializing in pop culture.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pr%2FQrqCrnV6YvK571KRmnK2cqcKzsY6aa21rZGaEdoGOrZ%2BeZZmZvK151qGmZqGjYr%2BwroyjppydnK67tHnEsWSbp6mbv6qxzZ1m