Amy Seimetz is back on our screens.
On April 8, the prolific director is set to star in The Testaments, a sequel to The Handmaid's Tale which takes place years after the events of the original series. Though Seimetz will have an acting role in the series, she’s had a remarkable stint as a director in the current television landscape. She’s directed episodes of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Outer Range, Atlanta, and The Girlfriend Experience —- the lattermost, she also created and starred in.
In 2021, Seimetz was set to direct an HBO series called The Idol alongside Sam Levinson. The Idol told the story about a singer named Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp) and a club owner named Tedros (Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye), who is later revealed to be a cult leader. Seimetz has directed almost an entire season of The Idol before her version was scrapped in favor of a version directed by Levinson.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter published Monday, March 30, Seimetz shared how she coped with the series getting scrubbed. “The best I could say is a Handmaid’s quote: ‘Don’t let the bastards grind you down.’ I’m only half joking,” said Seimetz.
Levinson’s version of The Idol premiered in June 2023 to abysmal reviews, with The Daily Telegraph calling it “the worst TV show of the year.” The show was canceled after one season. Since then, fans have been campaigning for HBO to release Seimetz’s cut of the series. But don’t get your hopes up. According to THR, the original version of The Idol “will never see the light of day.”
Fortunately, Seimetz has good feelings about The Testaments, which allowed her to turn off her director brain for a little bit.
“They all sort of feed each other in a way — directing, writing, and acting,” Seimetz said. “When I get tired of being bossy, I crave having people tell me when to hit a mark and what to say. When I get tired of being told where to hit a mark and what to say, I want to be bossy again.”
