When the cast of The Idol was first announced, there were some stellar names attached to the project, namely Abel Tesfaye (AKA The Weeknd), Lily-Rose Depp, Dan Levy, Eli Roth, Hank Azaria and the late Anne Heche. Then, as if that wasn't enough, they just kept coming: Troye Sivan, Hari Nef and finally, an artist called Jennie Ruby Jane.
Jennie Ruby Jane is the stage name for the acting debut of one of the biggest names in K-Pop (and pop music in general) right now: Jennie Kim, or as she’s better known, the mononymous Jennie from the stratospherically successful girl band, Blackpink.
Here's everything you need to know about her character in the show:
Dyanne the dancer
We first meet Dyanne (Jennie) in episode one of The Idol, where we learn she’s a back-up dancer for the Britney-esque popstar, Jocelyn, played by Depp.
The dancers and choreographer are working on Jocelyn’s new single, World Class Sinner, when Jocelyn runs up and hugs Dyanne. Dyanne says: “We’re going out tonight, you know that?” and when Jocelyn says she’s not sure, Dyanne tells her not to be boring.
The dancers are all working on the routine for the new single but Jocelyn’s not feeling it, so Dyanne is asked to step up and show her how it’s done. Jocelyn sits on the side and chains yet another cigarette, a tear falling down her cheek as she watches Dyanne nail the dance, but the stand-in is gracious enough to give Jocelyn, who's clearly not in the right frame of mind, a pep talk.“You’ve got this," she reassures her pop star friend. "We’re all here because of you”.
After the girls chill out in a sauna (still smoking!) and Jocelyn asks Dyanne about the nightclub she had previously mentioned, they hit the town. There’s an open-topped car ride, shots (with Maddy Perez from Euphoria), dancing, a sneaky entrance through a kitchen and they’re in Tedros’ (Tesfaye) cheesy club. And that’s the last we see of Dyanne in the opening episode.
In episode two, it's clear that Jocelyn's breakdown on the set of her music video – alongside her new relationship with Tedros – has opened the door for back-up dancer Dyanne to make more of her talents. At the end of the episode, after sending Jocelyn home to rest and recover after a gruelling day, cut-throat record executive Nikki Katz asks Dyanne to record a track. She's clearly exhausted by Jocelyn's mental health struggles, and sees potential in Dyanne. Did she plan this all along?
Who is Jennie?
Jennie was born in 1996 in Seoul, South Korea, and after spending a few years studying in New Zealand, she moved back to Seoul with the intention of trying out for YG Entertainment agency, which put together pop groups.
In 2010, she auditioned, aged 14, singing Rihanna’s Take A Bow, and passed, becoming a trainee of the talent agency. Several years in music and dancing bootcamp followed, and in 2016, Jennie, alongside her other bandmates Lisa, Rosé and Jisoo, were introduced as Blackpink.
With their two albums, 2020’s The Album and 2022’s Born Pink, they smashed global records with tracks like Boombayah and Whistle. The band has worked alongside other artists such as Dua Lipa, Cardi B, Lady Gaga, and Selena Gomez, and the girls have even broken several Guinness world records, including most-watched music video within 24-hours of release (56.7 million views).
In 2022, Jennie’s acting debut in The Idol was announced. Of the filming process, Jennie told Women’s Wear Daily: “It definitely was a challenge, because I’ve never experienced anything like that before. It was like breaking a wall for me”. She added: “I trusted Sam [Levinson] to be collaborative with all the scenes that we would be working on together, because it was about the industry. The fact that it was about the music industry fascinated me, and I thought I could bring something to the role.”
A year later, in May 2023, showing how she’d risen to full-on A-lister, Jennie attended her first Met Gala, while her next move in Hollywood is yet to be announced.
The Idol continues weekly on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV.
