Kayla Odoms / WireImage
Everyone thinks filming a fake sex scene with a random stranger would be weirder than doing it with someone you’re actually in a relationship with, but Riley Keough here to tell you there’s too much No Case.
For a pivotal scene in Prime Video’s new limited series daisy jones and the six, Keough’s character Daisy encounters a one-night stand with a boy she has just met. But Late Night with Seth Meyers, Keough shared how the show’s producers thought it would be “ridiculous” if she filmed sex scenes with her real-life husband, Ben Smith-Petersen, who is also an actor. Keough said it was quite the opposite. In fact, it was “more awkward” than your standard I-just-met-you-lets-have-fake-sex scene.
“I think they were thinking it would be less awkward,” Keough said. “And then we got there and he said, ‘This is really uncomfortable.’ Like, for one, I’ve never pretended to have sex with my husband.”
“And for two, usually, usually, when you do these things, it’s someone coming over for the day. You’re saying, ‘Hello, nice to meet you,’ and you get down to business. And it’s so professional. With him, we just laughed the whole time.
Amidst the laughs, Keough also explained how she felt the need to vent her lack of joy, which made the whole thing even more awkward. “In this scene, I’m really not enjoying it. And I really wanted to be like, ‘In real life, it’s not like that!’ Then I was like, ‘I’ll keep this to myself.’
Keough’s character Daisy on the show has no time for men. As an aspiring musician trying to make a record-breaking album, he has only his lyrics, his melodies, and his impending stardom on his mind. So, when asked if she’d like to spice things up and change the situation, Daisy brushes the guy away, reaches for her journal, and writes down some lyrics. In other words, the exact opposite of what would happen between Keough and Smith-Petersen in real life, and not just because they’re married.
Despite being the granddaughter of Elvis Presley, Keough had no prior professional experience with music. daisy jones and the six, he told Meyers. His strength lies in acting, not singing. She and her classmates – including Sam Claflin as her star-crossed boyfriend, Billy Dunne – spent over a year learning their respective instruments and studying vocal technique.
in an interview with Vanity FairKeough shared that she was instructed to learn to belt before filming. “I was like, What does that even mean? I didn’t even know how someone could sing that loud.
After training with a vocal coach, and practicing and putting in the day-to-day work with songs like Lady Gaga’s “Shallow,” Keough finally got it down. She could confidently belt out, which you can hear, the 10 original songs featured in the series. Suffice it to say, those new skills weren’t put to use in her “awkward” sex scene with her real-life husband.
daisy jones and the six Currently available to stream on Prime Video. You can check out our review of the show here.