How ‘Daisy Jones & The Six’ Casting Directors Made the Band, One Member at a Time

Seija Rankin
·4 min read
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When Kim Davis-Wagner and Justine Arteta signed on to cast the television adaptation of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s blockbuster rock ’n’ roll novel Daisy Jones & The Six, they knew they were up against the pressure of re-creating the magic of a beloved piece of IP — but they were also up against A Star Is Born. The Lady Gaga-starring musical drama hit theaters in 2018, and the industry was still captivated with the idea of seeing pop stars on the big screen. “The thinking was, there have to be other musicians [like Lady Gaga] who could be that good at acting,” says Arteta. “We knew that was possible, but really rare.”

Instead, the duo — who have been working together for over 30 years, getting their start in music videos before cutting their teeth on features like Never Been Kissed and Being John Malkovich — followed their instincts straight to Riley Keough. The actress (who is the granddaughter of Elvis Presley) had been in powerful indies like American Honey and big-budget stunners like Mad Max: Fury Road, but at that point her musical pedigree was just that: a pedigree. “We didn’t know what her songwriting would be, we had no grasp of what kind of voice she had inside her,” says Davis-Wagner. “A lot of the actors came in with music we had seen, but it was uncharted territory with Riley. It was so raw and fresh.” To this day, Arteta says she is blown away by Keough’s decision to choose this show to put her voice out into the world, calling the actor’s casting “the biggest gift in the world.”

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Though the role of Daisy was set early on, finding the right fit for her musical adversary-cum-love interest proved much more difficult; Billy Dunne was the last element to come together. The production needed a star who could make the obsessed-over character come alive while keeping up with Keough’s magnetism.

“With Billy, we stayed the course in the musician world for the longest,” says Arteta. “Ultimately, because of the places that role needed to go emotionally, we needed the acting to be deeply available.” Sam Claflin was an unlikely candidate given his résumé of mostly action flicks and British dramas, but he caught casting’s eye by transforming his demeanor (including his hair, his walk and even his body, which Arteta describes as Bruce Springsteen-like) to match the 1970s rock vibe at hand.

Much of the story of Daisy Jones & The Six revolves around the love triangle of Daisy, Billy and Billy’s wife, Camila, played by Camila Morrone. Though the shared name is a coincidence, Morrone’s casting felt fated. “When Cami left the room after her first audition, Kim and I just looked at each other and knew,” says Arteta. “We don’t usually go straight to the producers, but we called Hello Sunshine right away and told them we had chills.”

Arteta and Davis-Wagner were primarily working off the pilot script, but they knew that in finding the actors to play keyboardist Karen Sirko, guitarist Graham Dunne, drummer Warren Rojas and bassist Eddie Roundtree, they were actually creating a real band that could one day go out on a live tour. (“No pressure,” Davis-Wagner says with a laugh.) In addition to the standard sides, the auditions included songs chosen by music consultant Tony Berg and executive music producer Blake Mills. They looked for raw talent, and a willingness on the part of the actors to devote themselves to learning new skills — for example, Suki Waterhouse, who plays Karen, performs regularly as a singer-songwriter, but learned the keyboards entirely from scratch for the show.

The final group is decidedly less A-list than Hello Sunshine’s previous blockbuster adaptations (Little Fires Everywhere, Big Little Lies), but that’s by design. The casting directors were thoughtful about not getting caught up in big names or stunt casting, not wanting to pull viewers out of the 1970s time period or distract from the ensemble.

“We got lucky that this is a beautiful combination of a few names people could respond to and be excited about, but it’s not in your face,” says Davis-Wagner. “There are people there for fans to discover.” And, given the fact that the fictional band’s very real debut album, Aurora, hit No. 1 on iTunes, discover they did.

This story first appeared in an August stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.

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