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‘Daisy Jones & The Six’ First Look: Riley Keough and Sam Claflin Fall in Love as 1970s Songwriters

Samantha Bergeson
·3-min read

Riley Keough is tapping back into her roots as Elvis Presley’s granddaughter.

The “Zola” scene-stealer transforms into fictional ethereal rocker Daisy Jones for the highly anticipated adaptation of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s novel “Daisy Jones & The Six.” Sam Claflin co-stars as tortured songwriter Billy Dunne, frontman of The Six, comprised of Suki Waterhouse, Sebastian Chacon, Josh Whitehouse, and Will Harrison.

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Camila Morrone stars as Billy’s wife who struggles as Billy grows closer and closer to collaborator Daisy. Timothy Olyphant, Tom Wright, and Nabiyah Be round out the cast.

The official logline reads: Based on the best-selling novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid, “Daisy Jones & The Six” is a limited musical-drama series detailing the rise and precipitous fall of a renowned rock band. In 1977, Daisy Jones & The Six were on top of the world. Fronted by two charismatic lead singers — Daisy Jones (Keough) and Billy Dunne (Claflin) —the band had risen from obscurity to fame. And then, after a sold-out show at Chicago’s Soldier Field, they called it quits. Now, decades later, the band members finally agree to reveal the truth. This is the story of how an iconic band imploded at the height of its powers.

Inspired by the history of Fleetwood Mac, “Daisy Jones & The Six” is executive produced by screenwriter Scott Neustadter (“The Fault in Our Stars”) and Lauren Levy Neustadter, head of film and TV at Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine production company.

The 1970s-set series includes original songs and the full cast singing and playing their respective instruments. Producer Lauren Levy Neustadter told Vanity Fair that lead star Keough was determined to channel her Presley blood.

“We talked about her singing and we talked about her grandfather and she sort of said, ‘You know, I know I have it in me, but I really don’t sing outside the shower,'” Neustadter said. “‘This is not a thing that I’ve done before, but I’m ready to do the work,’ and she really did.”

Keough looked to Lady Gaga’s “Shallow” from “A Star Is Born” to harness the vocal power to play Daisy.

“I sounded so bad that I started crying,” she recalled. “I was like, I can’t do it, and when I can’t do something it lights a fire in me to be able to do it. I was like, I have to do it. I’m gonna go to this vocal coach, and he’s gonna teach me how to fucking belt, whatever I need to do to get this. It really became about pushing myself to do things I’ve never done before.”

Keough added, “At the end of the day, it’s not like I’m the best singer in the world. You know? Like, we’re not phenomenal singers. But we were proud of how far we got.”

Check out the first look at the upcoming Prime Video series below.

“Daisy Jones & The Six” premieres March 3.

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