When Johnny Depp’s daughter, Lily Rose Depp, dropped out of school in 2016 to pursue a career on-screen, the world was hardly surprised.

The American-French actress, born in Neuilly-sur-Seine in May 1999, made her acting debut two years prior in a horror comedy film called Tusk.

Alongside her burgeoning fashion career, having become an ambassador for Chanel under the personal request of Karl Lagerfeld, Lily, 25, went on to star in several other films, including The Dancer, which earned her a nomination for Most Promising Actress at the Cesar Awards.

Then came films including The King, where she starred with her ex-boyfriend Timothee Chalamet, and Crisis in 2021, alongside Armie Hammer.

Her career had steady momentum and critics recognised her talent behind the camera, which is why it came as a surprise when her reputation was put on the line in 2021 following her television debut in HBO’s The Idol.

The Guardian awarded the show’s finale, which follows aspiring model, Jocelyn, played by Depp, on a mission to recover her title as the greatest American popstar following a nervous breakdown, an abysmal one star, with the review at one point reading ‘the limp, glazed-over, chain-smoking nothingness of Lily-Rose Depp.

Given the lacklustre reviews, it came as little surprise that the show, also headed by Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, commonly known under his stage name of The Weeknd, was cancelled after the first season.

Now, Lily is reclaiming her reputation as the vampire victim Ellen Hutter in Robert Egger’s upcoming reboot of the 1992 horror film, Nosferatu, with The Hollywood Reporter concluding that the ‘movie belongs to Depp, whose performance is a revelation’.

Lily Rose Depp was criticised for her performance in The Idol (pictured), but now she’s reclaiming her reputation in a new gothic horror, Nosferatu

Alongside The Weeknd (pictured left), Lily played an American popstar who had recently suffered a nervous breakdown

Now, the 25-year-old is receiving critical praise for her performance in Robert Egger’s adaption of Nosferatu

The Idol debuted in June last year – nearly two years after it was ordered to series, following director Amy Seimetz and co-creator Sam Levinson taking over as the show’s primary director.

The Idol was ordered to series in November 2021, co-created by Sam Levinson (Euphoria), The Weeknd and Reza Fahim, with Amy Seimetz coming aboard to direct all six episodes.

Then in April 2022, Seimetz left the project amid a creative overhaul, despite roughly 80 per cent of the season being filmed already.

A Rolling Stone report from March 2023 revealed that Levinson and Tesfaye had taken over the creative direction since they felt the show had, ‘leaned too much into a female perspective.’

The show was originally set to follow Jocelyn (Depp), a rising pop star who becomes enamored with a mysterious figure (Weeknd) who was actually the predatory leader of a cult.

Sam Levinson revealed in a Variety interview that the show’s basic concept hinged on a conversation he had with The Weeknd, where he said his fans were so loyal he could actually start a cult, if he wanted to.

The entire series was ultimately re-shot, using The Weeknd’s own mansion to film the show, reducing the episode count from six to five. 

Crew members recalled to Rolling Stone that Levinson’s re-worked story was more of ‘degrading’ and that it emphasized nudity and, ‘sexual torture porn’ ‘like [a] rape fantasy.’

The actress, 25, starred in The Idol last year alongside The Weeknd (pictured), but it ended with just five episodes following substantial backlash over its disturbing content

HBO series The Idol – which was co-helmed by Euphoria writer Sam Levinson, The Weeknd (Abel Tesfaye) and Reza Fahim – came under heavy criticism over its explicit content 

‘The Idol was one of HBO’s most provocative original programs, and we’re pleased by the strong audience response,’ an HBO spokesperson said in a statement

The show was regularly criticized by both fans and critics alike for the many gratuitous sex and masturbation scenes peppered throughout the series.

HBO would only release viewership data for the first two episodes, with the pilot launching to 913,000 viewers across all platforms, with the second episode dipping to 800,000.

The series also starred Troye Sivan, Dan Levy, Eli Roth, Hari Nef, Jane Adams, Jennie Ruby Jane, Mike Dean, Moses Sumney, Rachel Sennott, Ramsey, Suzanna Son and Hank Azaria.

While some cast members like Da’Vine Joy Randolph hinted at the possibility of a second season in interviews, Deadline reported that the show’s creative team didn’t have a multi-season arc planned for the series.

‘The Idol was one of HBO’s most provocative original programs, and we’re pleased by the strong audience response,’ an HBO spokesperson said in a statement.

‘After much thought and consideration, HBO, as well as the creators and producers, have decided not to move forward with a second season,’ the statement continued. 

‘We’re grateful to the creators, cast, and crew for their incredible work,’ the statement concluded.

Despite the poor reviews and backlash for her performance, including the Daily Mail’s Caroline Bullock hailing it a ‘desperate grasp to fame’, and Lily maintained a blasé attitude to the ordeal. 

Lily Rose-has followed in her father’s horror footsteps with her chilling new role in Robert Eggers’s adaptation of Nosferatu

Some critics have even claimed Lily-Rose could earn Oscar recognition for the film, which premiered in Berlin on Monday night and is set for release on January 3

Talking to Vanity Fair in November of the show’s harsh reception, she said: ‘I love it. Honestly, I love it. You make something and you hope that people like it, and you hope that it resonates with people. 

‘But we always knew some people were not going to like it and that it was going to be too much for some people. But I stand by it. We made a choice and we went for it.’

The actress explained that the show enabled her to learn to dance and sing, adding: ‘It was a real growing period for me. So I look back on it and I can only think fondly, and I’m really proud of what it is.’

Now, the tide appears to be turning for Lily, following the release of Nosfeartu, made by  the director behind The Witch and The Lighthouse, Robert Eggers. 

Set in Germany in 1882, Nosferatu follows Thomas Hutter and his wife Ellen as they travel to Transylvania in Romania’s Carpathian Mountains, where they encounter the mysterious Count Orlok.

Early reviewers have declared Lily-Rose has broken away from the nepo-baby mould and is ‘outstanding’ as Ellen Hutter, a young woman suffering from seizures when possessed by vampire Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård) in the Robert Eggers chilling remake.  

Some critics have even claimed Lily-Rose could earn Oscar recognition for the film, which premiered in Berlin on Monday night and is set for release on January 3.  

The Telegraph’s Tim Robey awarded Nosferatu three stars out of five and wrote Lily is the ‘one to watch’.

Lily is reclaiming her status as an impressive actress in Robert Eggers’s take on vampire horror Nosferatu

The Independent awarded it five out of five stars and critic Clarisse Loughrey wrote: ‘Lily does magnificent work in embodying the sense of existing out of place’ 

‘Lily opens the film screaming, thrusts herself bodily into striking fits of eroticised demon-possession, and gives the best performance,’ he wrote. 

‘Gory and gorgeous, this extravagantly sexual spin on Dracula, following in the brisker footsteps of FW Murnau in 1922  (who was sued over his unofficial adaptation) and Werner Herzog in 1979, picks a pace to match its supremely glacial style. Rather than pouncing, it lurks, with an undeniably imposing way of making an entrance.’ 

Yahoo’s Jonathan Sim wrote: ‘2024 has had no shortage of masterful horror movie performances. From Nell Tiger Free in The First Omen to Naomi Scott in Smile 2, female actors have been crushing it. 

‘We can add another name to the list of incredible performances: Lily-Rose Depp. Anya Taylor-Joy was initially cast as Ellen before being replaced by Depp. 

‘Taylor-Joy is such a phenomenal actress that losing her can be disappointing. But somehow, Depp brings something powerful, sensual, and unexpected. It’s her best performance yet.’

‘The film belongs to Lily-Rose Depp, whose performance is a revelation,’ declared The Hollywood Reporter’s David Rooney. 

‘Her scenes with Bill Skarsgard are electric. Depp gives Ellen’s delirium a tragic gravity, deepening once she acknowledges the mystical forces within her that sparked the vampire’s obsession.

‘She can switch in an instant from weak and vulnerable to demonic, and the stylized physicality of her seizures is breathtaking.’