-Our next guest is a talented actress
you know from films such as "Mad Max: Fury Road"
and "Magic Mike" and shows like
"The Girlfriend Experience" and "The Terminal List."
She stars in "Daisy Jones & The Six,"
which begins streaming on Prime Video this Friday.
Let's take a look.
-What can I do for you?
-I don't know.
-What do you want? -I want to make a record.
-Okay. -And I want people
to listen to it over and over again until it breaks.
And then I want to make another one.
-Well, you got one great song. All we need now is 10 more.
-Give me a week.
-[Bleep ]
♪♪
-Oh, and, Daisy,
this is now the worst song on your album.
♪♪
-Please welcome back to the show Riley Keough, everybody!
[ Cheers and applause ]
[ Mid-tempo music plays ]
♪♪
Welcome back! -Thank you!
I just grabbed your hand.
I didn't know if you were offering or introducing.
-It was like, "And this is the couch."
I did. I did want you to --
I wanted you to use it as you saw fit.
-Thank you. -Yeah.
I think it went very smoothly.
It's a little awkward how much we're talking about it now,
but... -"Stop."
[ Laughter ]
-Hey, so this is -- because this is a show about a band,
and also there's an album that has come out.
It must be so different than any other show you're promoting,
because it does also feel like you're promoting as a musician.
-Totally. It's the first time I've done anything musical.
That's been its own experience.
But we had our album come out today.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-It's wonderful, too.
Obviously you have -- you come from a musical family,
but I'm surprised that you've never done anything musical.
-Yeah, I mean, I played, like, a little bit of piano
when I was a kid and played around with it.
But I just never was interested. -That's so funny.
-I know. I love it now. You know?
-So did -- I mean --
Did the casting process sort of have to take a leap of faith
that you were gonna eventually be able to figure it out?
-Yes. I think that I oversold myself
a little bit in the beginning of the process.
-That's very nice that you're admitting it now, yeah.
-Yeah. [ Laughter ]
No, I -- it was something
I just really wanted to prove to myself that I could do,
I think, ultimately, and I think they saw that in me
and they wanted to give me a chance.
[ Laughter ]
-But you did take it seriously. And I hope --
Is it correct to say that you and your cast
went to a band camp of sorts? -Yeah.
Band camp, we would start it at like 9:00 in the morning.
We would do singing lessons and guitar lessons
and piano lessons and full band practice
and go over to the other side, at Sound City Studios in L.A.
and, like, record our album.
So it was like a full, like, Rock -- School of Rock.
-Were other cast members maybe a little bit farther along
in their education than you? Or did you --
-Yes. -Okay, got it.
-Everyone in our band was a musician,
other than Sam and myself, who are the two lead singers.
So it was, like -- [ Laughter ]
It was, like, crazy. But it was --
What was amazing is the first -- the first time
we ever rehearsed together, I was super nervous.
Because we'd been -- we'd been practicing alone
and getting our lessons by ourselves.
And I was thinking, you know, like, I'm the worst one here.
And then I met Sam. [ Laughter ]
No, and then we had our first singing lesson together.
And there was this moment where we were looking at each other,
and they kind of, like, wanted us to sing
really close to each other's face
and, like, build chemistry,
the first time we'd ever met each other.
And we both realized, "Oh, we're both, like, awful."
-Yeah. [ Laughter ]
-And from then on, I just felt, like, super grateful to have --
that we were both kind of starting from the bottom.
-When you meet -- again,
I think a lot of romance starts
when you meet someone as awful as you are.
-Right? Yeah. [ Laughter ]
-Now, then you finished -- I guess there's this conclusion
of band camp. At some point,
you have to move on and start doing the show.
-Yeah. -And I heard you had
a concert of sorts for friends and family?
-We did. There was no friends or family.
It was very -- It was a lot of executives.
-Okay. So the people... [ Laughter ]
-I think -- -They're like,
"Please call us 'friends and family.'"
-I think they wanted it to feel like friends or family.
We walked in the room, and it was just, like, a corporate...
-How many people would you say were there in your audience
for your concert? -I think I blacked out.
But it might have been, like -- I feel like
I've said that in every interview.
People think I have a drinking problem.
[ Laughter ]
It must have been like -- I want to say it was 50, 60.
-Oh, that's a real audience, yeah.
-You know, it was -- It was -- Yeah.
-It does seem like at least one thing you have going for you is,
again, because this is a cast where you also play a band --
-I want to hear the one thing. -You have one thing.
No, but it just seems like you guys
feel like a very close cast. -We are.
-I see photos of you guys doing press.
And I don't know, maybe it's because
you are playing people in a band together,
but you actually look like you have a nice group chemistry.
-We do. And I think that's, you know,
been the most special thing about the show is
that all of us are, you know -- it's not often
you get to do a series with 10 people your age.
-Yeah. -And all get along well.
And I think that that sort of translates into the show.
And that's been, you know, authentic.
-This is a show about a band
and what a band goes through.
You obviously have a career as an actor.
Do you -- Is there anything about band life
that feels more alluring to you now that you wish --
-100%. -Okay.
-The -- I realized, in making this show
and recording the album that, like, our actors' job
is very, like, serious and stressful,
and they're very laid-back and very easy-going.
I remember going into the studio,
and we're always, like, "Got to be on time,
got to be punctual," and everyone's late.
And I go to -- And then, you know --
And it's -- to them, it's not. It's like 15 minutes.
To me, coming from film, I'm like, "Oh, my God,
it's a disaster." -Right.
-You know? [ Laughter ]
And, like, we get in the studio, and I remember
being like, "Okay, what time's lunch?"
And they were like, I mean, "Whenever you're hungry."
And I was like, "Aah!" [ Laughter ]
I think I need, like, structure. [ Laughter ]
But then I, like, relaxed into it.
And I was like, "This is so much cooler."
-That's great. -Yeah.
-I don't know why you ran from it when you were a kid.
-I know. -Well, that's alright.
It's very nice that you found your way back to it.
-I did. -So, I know
you met your husband on set. -Yeah.
-You guys were working on "Mad Max" together.
And then he has a cameo in this show.
-He sure does. -Now, tell us --
This Is a wonderful story how this cameo came about.
-Well, the cameo came about [Chuckles]
because I have to have intercourse...
-Uh-huh? -...with a random person
in the show. -Yeah.
-And the producers were like, "It would be so funny
if it was your husband." -That's so nice.
[ Laughter ]
And so he agrees? -Yeah.
-Now, though, you're on set with your husband,
you know, simulating intercourse.
Was that more or less awkward? -It was more awkward.
-Yeah, I bet. -It was more awkward.
-It sounds good in the beginning,
but as I think about it -- -I think that they were thinking
it would be less awkward, and then I --
and then we got there and like, "This is
really uncomfortable." -Yeah.
-I mean, you don't -- like, for one,
I've never had pretend sex with my husband.
-Right. [ Laughter ]
That's true. -You know?
And for two, you know -- normally, typically,
when you do these things, and it's, like,
somebody coming in for the day, you're like, "Hello.
Nice to meet you," and you kind of
get down to business, and it's very professional.
But with him, it was just like, really,
like we were just giggling the whole time.
-Yeah. -Yeah.
-I would be so worried if I had to have pretend sex
with my wife in front of a bunch of people.
She'd be like, "He doesn't usually..."
[ Laughter ] -That's what was --
-"He's putting a lot more attention..."
[ Laughter ] -That's what happened.
Because we were -- In this scene --
and this is a spoiler alert -- in the scene, it's not --
it's not like -- I'm not really enjoying it.
-Yeah. -And I feel like
I really kept feeling inclined to be like, "In real life..."
[ Laughter ] "...it's not like this."
And I was like, "I'll just keep that to myself."
-Yeah. -Yeah.
-That's good that you guys found together
that when you have real sex, it should be with him,
and pretend sex should be with strangers.
-Yes. -Yeah.
That's a very helpful message to all married couples.
-It was, yeah. [ Laughter ]
-You also directed a film... -Yeah.
-...I guess, last year now. -Mm-hmm.
-"War Pony" which you worked on for a great long time, I know.
-Yeah. -This is a real process.
Congratulations. -Thank you.
-And it was at the Cannes Film Festival.
[ Cheers and applause ] -Thank you.
-Did you enjoy directing?
Is that something you think you'll do again?
-I -- "Enjoy" is an interesting word.
[ Laughter ]
It was wild. -By the way,
I like how honest this answer is.
-You're my last interview of the week.
And I'm just really letting It all out.
-You're going to be honest. -Just, like...
[ Laughter ]
-I [Laughs] -- I, um --
I did enjoy it. It's wild.
It's, like, much more challenging than I --
I think actors have this feeling
that they can just, like, direct.
-Yeah. -And it's really hard.
-It is. I mean, I think
that you forget how exhausting decision-making is.
-Yes. -Because, ultimately, I think
every role on a film set is tiring in its own way.
-Yeah. -But I think the amount of --
even just tiny decisions you have to make as a director,
people always underestimate. -Totally.
Decisions, and then just, like, the admin and the scheduling
and just things that I'm totally not interested in,
you know, that you have to do. -[ Chuckles ]
-But it was amazing. You know?
And we were able to make this very collaborative
film experience that was, you know --
I'll remember it for the rest of my life.
-Well, congratulations on that. -Thank you.
-Congratulations on the show. -Thank you.
-You're discovering your musical talent.
[ Cheers and applause ] -Thank you.
-It's really lovely to have you here again.
You guys, that's Riley Keough.
"Daisy Jones & The Six" begins streaming on Prime this Friday.
We'll be right back with more "Late Night."