Billie Eilish's character in 'Swarm' inspired by real-life cult

Billie Eilish’s casting for Swarm created a lot of buzz around the show. It turned out to be one of the most popular episodes of the black comedy created by Janine Nabers and Donald Glover.

Nabers revealed that Eilish’s character was inspired by a cult (NXIVM) and its leader Keith Raniere, who was sentenced to 120 years in prison after being found guilty for sex-trafficking.

“There is a cult that existed in the world that was very prominent during that time,” Nabers told The Hollywood Reporter.

“And that is the kind of true-crime element to that episode. And I think that when people think of the idea of artists or celebrities, there is this idea of thinking about the cult of Taylor Swift, or the cult of the Beatles or whatever. What we were really interested in was just seeing someone who worships at the altar of ‘something,’ and (exploring) this idea of what is the cult of the mind.”

Billie Eilish plays Eva, a women empowerment cult leader who takes Dre - a young woman fixated with a pop star - under her wing.

Swarm follows Dre (Dominique Fishback), a young woman whose fixation with a pop star takes a dark turn. The show premiered on March 17, 2023 on Amazon Prime Video.