It’s still amazing to think that Riley Keough had no real singing experience before starring in Amazon Prime Video’s “Daisy Jones & the Six.” In fact, most of the actors didn’t – which makes the group’s formidable sound all the more impressive. “Daisy Jones & the Six” did what few other shows have done (perhaps “The Monkees” being the other most notable): turned a cast of actors playing characters in a band…into a real group.
But back to Keough for a second. Yeah, every story about her and “Daisy Jones” says the same thing: What? She hadn’t sung before? But she is ROCK ROYALTY. (Granddaughter of Elvis Presley, come on, you know the drill now.) Some might say it’s in the genes, but that’s just a fraction of it. Do not sell Keough short. It was hard work and talent. And a lot more hard work. Keough and the cast of “Daisy Jones & the Six” also had a bit of odd timing on their side, as COVID-related production delays forced them to keep training. And after all that rehearsal time, they got good. Really good.
In this episode of Variety’s award-winning Circuit Awards podcast, Keough talks about the journey she took to create “Daisy Jones & the Six” and its lasting impact on her. But first, on the roundtable, we get a recap of Cannes, plus we talk about the “Succession” finale and much more. Listen below:
“I’m really touched when people say that, because I don’t get along like that,” Keough said of fans’ inevitable surprise when they find out she doesn’t sing regularly. “And I’m so grateful that I continued to feel like a professional singer in a way. I mean, we had so much time to rehearse and we had a huge team of people helping us through…we had so much time together, and so much rehearsal time, that’s not typical. It was really extremely effective. And it was the only way for us to feel, in my opinion, like we knew what we were doing. Because some of us, especially Sam and myself, if you had put us on stage, like two weeks after our casting, it would have been very different from what you see on the show and very embarrassing.
“Daisy Jones & the Six,” the TV adaptation of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s bestselling novel of the same name, hit Amazon Prime Video in March. The series, about the epic rise and fall of an iconic 1970s rock band, isn’t really about Fleetwood Mac, but the similarities are there.
In the limited series, Keough plays singer and songwriter Daisy Jones, who teams up with the band The Six. There is soon an intense rivalry between Daisy and the band’s singer, Billy Dunne (Sam Claflin). This volatility ultimately leads to a rapid collapse of the group.
As our conversation begins with Keough, we release a copy of “Aurora”, the Daisy Jones & the Six release, on vinyl.
“I feel like I’ve listened to those songs for three years straight,” Keough said. “And again and again. I have never listened to so many songs. I mean, the songs are so amazing.
When did Keough realize she wanted to be an actress? “Growing up, it was very rare that I didn’t pretend to be someone else,” she says. “Whether I was just in my house or playing in the garden. Like a princess in my castle, or, I was often a prisoner, I really liked this story for some reason. Being trapped. I’m, like, just sitting here thinking What was it? Or a single mother, or whatever I could think of. I just wanted to be other people. And so I think it was very apparent in hindsight. And also, I remember, when I was a kid, when I was crying, I would look in the mirror and watch myself cry. And as an adult, I think it’s like the behavior of a child actor. I don’t know what it is either. Human emotion, like watching it happen in real time or something. I don’t know.”
Download or listen to the podcast to learn more!
Variety’s “Awards Circuit” podcast, produced by Michael Schneider, is your one-stop-shop for lively conversations about the best in film and TV. Each week, “Awards Circuit” features interviews with top film and TV talent and creatives; discussions and debates about awards races and industry headlines; and much more. Subscribe through Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you download podcasts. New episodes released every week.