Riley Keough Finds Her Voice

What was that audition process like?

I had to act first. Well, I think I simultaneously had to send in an acting audition and also something of me singing. I sent like a little voice note, I think of me and my husband singing together. And my voice was very soft. It was by no means like a powerful singing video. And they kind of said, “This is great, but Daisy needs to be able to really sing.” I think at the time they were looking at professional singers. So I sent another video in, but I was kind of hitting this wall where I was thinking that I wasn’t capable of doing what they needed in terms of vocal performance. They said she needs to belt. I didn’t know, literally, how to do that with my voice. So, I was sitting in the car and my agent was like, “just try and sing the Lady Gaga song ‘Shallow.’” And I was like, “you don’t just, like, bust out Lady Gaga.” So I was sitting in the car and I pulled over and just tried, and it just sounded so bad. It just sounded so horrible. And I sat there and I started crying because I was just so frustrated. It wasn’t even just about getting the role. It was that I’m not gonna be able to do something that I had an idea that maybe I could do, if I put work in. 

I sat there and I was just kind of feeling sorry for myself, and then I said I’m going to get a vocal coach and really give it a chance. So I went to a coach and I worked with him over the weekend. And then I went home and all of a sudden, “Simple Man” by Lynyrd Skynyrd came into my head. I think in hindsight it was just in my key. So I went back again and I was able to belt for the first time. 

Because of your performance in the show, I assumed that you had a long history with singing, obviously with your family legacy and music. Would you say that it’s because of your family’s legacy that music is something you shied away from on purpose, or was it just because acting was more of your interest?

I don’t think I shied away from it on purpose. From as far back as I can remember, I was just obsessed with movies and acting, and writing and I wanted to direct. I don’t think I really thought about it. I loved music, but it wasn’t something that I felt drawn to in the same way that I did with film.

You talked to my colleague about how when you were actually in production, it was sort of a really tough time for you personally and dealing with some autoimmune stuff. Did you ever think about backing out of the project?

I had lost my brother while we were sort of on pandemic hiatus. We were supposed to film a few months later, and at the time I was like, “I don’t think I’m able to perform well or give anything.” But then it pushed again, it pushed like six months. I kind of went, “okay, well maybe this happened for a reason.” And that push also really helped us with our music and our instruments and our singing because we ended up having a year to rehearse. So in many ways it felt like it came exactly when it was supposed to. I also have some autoimmune issues, so I was really struggling. But I just decided to do it. And I think there was something about this project that was really joyous and different. Typically, I’ve done darker, more serious work and, and I really felt like I needed to do something that felt like I needed to do something that felt like a fun experience at this point in my life.