Riley Keough reveals why she felt shy ‘vocalising’ acting ambitions

Riley Keough revealed in the cover story for Vogue, published, Saturday, April 29th, 2023, that she realised her acting dreams pretty early on.

Born in Santa Monica in 1989, Riley is the first child of the late Lisa Marie Presley and musician Danny Keough. She is also the eldest grandchild of the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley.

Even though the War Pony director, grew up in the shadow of Hollywood, she was reluctant to voice her ambitions that she harboured. “There was a part of me that felt like everyone here acts, and I felt a little bit shy about wanting to vocalise that.”

Keough recently starred in Amazon Prime’s hit series, Daisy Jones & the Six, based on the novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid of the same name.

The actress shared that her teenage years very similar to the rock and roll scene in 1970s Hollywood. “It was totally like Daisy Jones,” Keough told the outlet.

“We were sort of living our version of 1970s in LA, and we kind of dressed like that. We’d wear suede and fur coats and bandanas ... and we would hang out at the Whisky [nightclub].”

Even now, Keough said, if she could live in any era in history, it would be the 1970s. “And it would be in the music scene somehow.”

Talking about her connection to the character, Keough explained that she felt empathetic because they had shared similar struggles, especially as a woman in the industry.

“I’ve experienced it a lot in my career ... where you feel like you have to work a lot harder to be heard,” she said. There’s a perception, or it feels like you’ve ended up where you are by accident and not that you’ve earned your seat at the table.”

She added that she had been underestimated “just so many” times that it was “debilitating.” She elucidated. Years of that results in you doubting yourself. And that was another thing that I really connected with in the script ... trusting yourself despite the way that you’re treated.”