Billie Eilish made a big leap in her acting career earlier this year with the role of cult leader Ava in Donald Glover’s series Swarm. The show shines a spotlight on multiple sides of fan passion, which Eilish sees as both “beautiful” and “really scary.”
She told Variety in a new interview, “That fan passion is so real, and it’s so beautiful, but it’s also really scary, and I think the show is a metaphor for this power — how people really are in the delusional nature of, ‘She’s gonna see me and we’re gonna be best friends!’ Fans are really, so powerful, and I think maybe they don’t realize how powerful they are.”
She also noted of an unscripted moment between her and Dominique Fishback, and how fans who like her Eva character perhaps don’t understand her real motives:
“It’s so f*cked up and classic. This hippie, white b*tch is gaslighting this Black girl, and then reaches out and grabs one of her f*cking braids. She’s telling me she’s murdered all these people, and instead of me being like, ‘Oh my God, you’re so f*cked up,’ I’m tearing up and saying that she’s a warrior, and holding her hands and getting close to her and playing with her braid and leaning in. We wanted this upsetting, weird, seductive, sexual-but-also-not power dynamic. Eva’s reaction to all of it, somehow, is to kiss her.
Some of the fans have talked about how they love Eva [and think she’s] so comforting. Guys, no! It’s a front! She wants the worst of the worst! And that happens where people bring you in and make you feel comfortable and safe, and then they abuse the sh*t out of that.”
Check out more from the interview here.
