Jenna Ortega Spirals with The Weeknd and Barry Keoghan in Shocking ‘Hurry Up Tomorrow’ Trailer

You’ve met The Weeknd, the pop artist. Now prepare to meet his movie-star alter ego.

Abel Tesfaye, better known as The Weeknd, takes his first leading film role in Hurry Up Tomorrow, a feature-length accompaniment to his sixth album of the same name, coming to theaters May 16.

As its newly released trailer indicates, Hurry Up Tomorrow is a psychological thriller with flashy supporting turns from Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan.

The trailer teases Tesfaye, 34, as a semi-autobiographical character. “A musician plagued by insomnia is pulled into an odyssey with a stranger who begins to unravel the very core of his existence,” reads a logline.

The movie, from director Trey Edward Shults, also features TikTok star Charli D’Amelio and singer Gabby Barrett. Shults, Reza Fahim and Tesfaye himself co-wrote its script. 

Hurry Up Tomorrow, the album, was released through XO and Republic Records on Jan. 24. Though the film marks his first lead role on the big screen, Tesfaye is no stranger to Hollywood.

An Oscar nominee for writing the original song “Earned It” from 2015’s Fifty Shades of Grey, the Canada native co-created and starred in the 2023 HBO drama The Idol and played himself in 2019’s Uncut Gems. 

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“The album I’m working on now is probably my last hurrah as The Weeknd,” the singer told W Magazine of the project back in 2023. “This is something that I have to do. As The Weeknd, I’ve said everything I can say.”

Of directing the pop star, Shults, 36, told Variety in a Jan. 10 interview, “I was blown away by how well he responds to direction as an actor: There would be days where I was ready to walk away from a scene, thinking we got it, and he would ask for another take and push the scene to a new level.”

“I don’t think people realize yet what a good actor he is,” Shults added.

Keoghan, 32, “was a friend of mine prior to all this,” Tesfaye told the outlet, “and he was always number one on my list for his role.”

Ortega, 22, “brought so much depth to the character,” he said. “There was a scene where Trey and I looked at each other like, ‘On paper, this is just ridiculous — how is it going to translate on screen?’ ”

“And she said, ‘I have an idea.’ She led that whole scene — none of it was rehearsed, and a lot of my reactions in it are not acting,” Tesfaye added.

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Ortega told Variety that Tesfaye “is such a sweetheart, and really looked out for everyone on our set.”

“It was so great getting to know him and help bring his vision to life,” she added.

Hurry Up Tomorrow, from distributor Lionsgate, is in theaters May 16.