Keough leaves her unforgettable mark on every film she appears in.
Even in smaller cameo roles, Keough always manages to stand out and capture the audience’s attention.
It’s no wonder she seems to be one oftheup-and-coming actresses of her generation.
It goes without saying that the granddaughter of Elvis had a pretty unusual upbringing.
Curious to find out about Keough’s real journey from famous offspring to indie starlet?
Here is the stunning transformation of Riley Keough.
Her father,Danny Keough, was a mildly successful musician from Chicago.
Being descended from music royalty meant that Riley grew up in the public eye.
… it was probably similar to, like, how the Kardashians' kids are growing up now."
After the divorce, Keough’s life was split between her parents.
Still, life with her dad was “colorful and eccentric and fun.”
Her mother remarried shortly after the divorce.
Keough’s new stepfather?
None other thanMichael Jackson!
“And I felt like I fit in everywhere.”
And as Riley Keough explained toInStyle, her parents quickly realized that her life was too abnormal for school.
“I just didn’t have a lifestyle that would permit that,” she explained.
As Keough explained toInStyle, she made her own films and put on plays as a kid.
She toldVoguethat she often drew on her own dual life in her childhood projects.
“I was very interested in long-lost family and in class, rich versus poor,” she recalled.
Though Keough’s education was minimal, she quickly formulated a career plan.
When she was a teenager, she spoke to her parents about acting.
They were skeptical because of the rejection and uncertainty of the career.
But, as she toldInterview Magazine, she was determined.
“Then I started acting and realized life is hard and people are mean.”
And that’s exactly what she did.
It turns out, modeling was the perfect way for Keough to enter the industry.
She toldHarper’s Bazaarthat it got her used to working in unusual locations and situations.
“It’s been wonderful.
Even though Keough was clearly good at modeling, it wasn’t something that stuck.
She went on, “They are very impatient and photo shoots are boring.
If it was my career, I do not think I would have been the best.”
Her famous family gave her a helping hand.
She told Flaunt, “I walked in a door and wanted an agent and I got one.
That’s not normal and I know that.”
But nevertheless, it was scary.
I was a little bit afraid to fail.”
In 2010, she starred alongside Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning in “The Runaways.”
As she toldWWD, her fears quickly melted away.
“It’s the most comfortable place for me.”
After that, the roles kept coming.
In fact, as she explained toThe Guardian, she has dealt with her fair share of rejection.
Right after her debut performance in “The Runaways,” Keough didn’t work for two years.
Instead of becoming disheartened, Keough only pushed herself more.
“Rejection just makes me work harder to prove myself,” she said.
By the sounds of things, Keough didn’t always have an easy time in auditions.
Sometimes, the auditions were so bad that she simply stopped trying halfway through.
Luckily, she said, she also has good auditions, which eventually secured her more parts.
“Anyone would, it’s not a twist-my-arm-scenario,” she said.
It’s easy to see that she owes a big part of her career to the director.
“He puts his trust in you as a performer.
As she explained toUSA Today, she knew instinctively that he was special.
Apparently, she instantly felt comfortable around him.
In 2015, Keough told Town & Country, “I want to have children with Ben.”
Instead, she’s become one of the top actresses in Hollywood by learning on the job.
“I’ve been learning from every director I’ve worked with,” she said.
So, she learned to appreciate her success and be grateful.
Sounds like Keough has come a long way since she first stepped foot on a set.
In 2017, Riley Keough started her own production company, Felix Culpa, along with Gina Gammell.
For Keough, the production company gave her another creative outlet aside from acting.
She toldS Magazine, “I try and relax, but I can’t.
I relax by working on my production company’s films.
For Keough, this film provided new challenges and marked an exciting step in her career.
AsVoguenoted, “none of her previous work … comes close” to her work in “Zola.”
As Keough told the publication, she wanted to make her role as Stefani as outrageous as possible.
“We wanted to make her as wild, offensive and loud as we could,” Keough explained.
It took some serious work to get ready to play such an outrageous character.
While Keough clearly took a risk with her larger-than-life choices in “Zola,” her risks paid off.
For Keough, it was a devastating loss that forced her to rethink her relationship with grief.
Keough toldVariety, “When you’re in grief … everything for the first time hits you.
It’s like, ‘Oh, I’m experiencing this in grief now.'”
The event coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic and the release of “Zola.”
Those things don’t go away.
We don’t stop being in pain from grief,” she explained toElle.
The 2023 show was adapted from the novel of the same name by Taylor Jenkins Reid for Amazon Prime.
Playing a musician was naturally exciting for Keough, considering her musical family.
“My mother is certainly an inspiration to me,” she toldPeople.
She was definitely inspirational to me.”
“I think just women who were liberated were inspiring to me,” she said.
As Elvis’ granddaughter, the experience of seeing Austin Butler portray Elvis wasn’t exactly easy for her.
“It was really emotional,” she toldE!at the time.
It was really intense."
“It’s a wonderful film.
Austin’s incredible,” she said.
“I hope everybody goes and sees ‘Elvis.'”
While Keough ended up loving the film, she was happy that she was not involved in the production.
“It’s a little too close,” Keough said toVulture.
“It’s intense enough to watch, I don’t want to act in it.
It was never a conversation.
She and Gammell were inspired to write a film about the tribe.
“It was not easy.
It was very challenging,” she told Vanity Fair.
“The kind of things we heard were weird.”
I am eternally grateful to have spent 33 years with you.
