Toronto-born music icon Abel Tesfaye, better known as The Weeknd, had a rough acting debut in the universally panned HBO-TV series The Idol. But, the acclaimed musician is back and in seriously good company for a new project. Tesfaye will make his big-screen film debut in Hurry Up Tomorrow, a psychological thriller hitting theatres across Canada on May 16. Directed by filmmaker Trey Edward Shults (Waves, It Comes at Night), the film promises an intense and surreal cinematic experience. Tesfaye is putting his acting chops to a serious test in a movie featuring two of the most popular actors working today—Jenna Ortega (Wednesday, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice) and Barry Keoghan (Saltburn, The Banshees of Inisherin).
In Hurry Up Tomorrow, The Weeknd plays a musician struggling with chronic insomnia, whose life takes a bizarre and existential turn when he crosses paths with a mysterious stranger (Keoghan). As their journey unfolds, the stranger begins to unravel the fabric of his reality, leading to a nightmarish odyssey.
This marks The Weeknd’s most significant acting role to date, following a minor appearance in Uncut Gems (2019) alongside Adam Sandler. Of course, we’ll all know about his last major acting project, HBO’s The Idol (2023), which was met with some serious criticism for the entire project but also Tesfaye’s acting in particular. Let’s just say it was not pretty.
Acting: mid af (please never act again The Weeknd or maybe take some acting classes)
Screenplay: might as well be written by AI
Direction: 3.5/5
Cinematography: the only good thing about this dumpster fire of a show https://t.co/oenWamYvlX
— Nichol Aque (@nicknichnic94) June 5, 2023
Now, with Hurry Up Tomorrow, Tesfaye is looking to prove his rather large throng of doubters wrong, stepping into a lead role in what could be a major turning point in his career.
Joining The Weeknd on screen, Jenna Ortega has quickly become one of Hollywood’s most in-demand young actors, known for her standout performances in horror and thriller films. Meanwhile, Barry Keoghan continues to impress with his chameleon-like ability to embody complex and unsettling characters.
Hurry Up Tomorrow, you may have already noted, is also the title of The Weeknd’s new album, which was released Jan. 31. Upon the release of the new album, Tesfaye remarked that it could be the last we hear from The Weeknd. And, of course, The Weeknd’s music is front-and-centre in the movie.
“It’s getting to a place and a time where I’m getting ready to close the Weeknd chapter,” he said, in a 2023 interview with Complex magazine. “I’ll still make music, maybe as Abel, maybe as The Weekend. But I still want to kill The Weeknd. And I will.”
Tesfaye’s The Weeknd music project began here in Toronto in 2009 with a series of incredible mixtapes — House of Balloons, Thursday, and Echoes of Silence — that launched his career. In a few short years, he became one of the top recording artists in the world.
