Can Jennie Ruby Jane save 'The Idol' from itself?
Max's The Idol boasts a stacked cast: pop stars Abel Tesfaye (AKA The Weeknd) and Troye Sivan, Schitt's Creek's Dan Levy, model Hari Nef, and more. But the real star, it seems, had one of the smallest speaking roles in the series' first episode. Her name is Jennie Kim, but you may know her better as the mononymous Jennie of Korean girl group Blackpink.
Credited as Jennie Ruby Jane, the 27-year-old global superstar plays Dyanne, the dancer bestie of main character Jocelyn (Lily Rose-Depp), and she's been the major draw for the series so far, especially online. A video of her dance scene from the opening episode has racked up more than 2 million views, twice the viewership of the episode itself (913,000, according to Variety).
But while the internet seems to be loving Jennie, its feelings for The Idol aren't so warm. The show has been mired in controversy that boiled over after a Rolling Stone exposé detailed its messy creation, and its first episode has been widely panned.
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Jennie has a massive international following, and some fans have subscribed to Max just for her
Jennie is arguably the most famous person in the entire cast and crew of The Idol. She is the 48th most-followed person on Instagram, with more than 79 million followers. Her band, Blackpink, is known the world over and grossed $78 million on tour in 2022, the highest ever for a female group.
The band's fans, known as Blinks, are incredibly loyal, and given that The Idol marks Jennie's acting debut (she also gave an impressive performance in a perfume commercial last year), Blinks have shown up to support her. The New York Times spoke to one superfan who said they'd unsubscribe to Max if Jennie was cut from the show. And it's no secret that both Max and The Idol need all the subscribers they can get.
Blackpink content is hard to come by
One of Blackpink's marketing hallmarks is leaving fans wanting more. The group has been together for seven years but have just two albums and roughly 40 songs to their name.
The members are high-fashion favorites, often papped out and about at global brand events and fashion weeks, and Jennie most recently designed a capsule collection for Calvin Klein. The group rarely livestreams, tweets, or communicates via fan apps like other Korean idols, choosing instead to post on their individual Instagram accounts. This restrained content strategy means that Blinks are voracious consumers of any new Blackpink content, and The Idol benefits from their eagerness to show their support.
The role also represents a new kind of opportunity for Jennie outside of music, and fans want to see her shine.
A pop star playing a back-up dancer in a TV show about...a pop star? That's so meta.
Art imitates life, but The Idol is a whole other level. Jennie, a real-life pop star, playing the dancer of Jocelyn, a fake pop star? The premise of the show is so damn meta that fans and non-fans alike have to be curious about how Jennie will be used in future episodes.
In the pilot, her character stands in for Jocelyn to show the pop star how to emote on stage. Fans says she killed it, and Jennie even noted in a post-episode breakdown that learning the choreography was easy because "thankfully, I do this all the time, so it came naturally to me." Who's to say Jennie won't eventually replace Jocelyn and steal the whole show?
Controversy over Jennie's dancing is good for ratings, and for her acting range.
In The Idol's first episode, Jennie's character Dyanne is acting as a stand-in for Jocelyn, who leverages sex appeal as part of her personal brand. With the help of a stage full of dancers, Jennie executes Jocelyn's sultry, borderline scandalous choreography, and puts on an impressive performance unlike what we've seen from the IRL idol. However, some more conservative Korean fans of Blackpink weren't so thrilled with how sexy things got, sharing their dismay on local message boards.
Controversial or not, for Jennie, and the show, there's no such thing as bad publicity. As Jocelyn's team says when a sexually explicit photo of her is leaked to Reddit: "She's coming out of it more famous than when she came in." And so will Jennie.
Elizabeth is a digital culture reporter covering the internet's influence on self-expression, fashion, and fandom. Her work explores how technology shapes our identities, communities, and emotions. Before joining Mashable, Elizabeth spent six years in tech. Her reporting can be found in Rolling Stone, The Guardian, TIME, and Teen Vogue. Follow her on Instagram here.
