Daisy Jones & the Six stars talk that heartbreaking shower scene
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Warning: This article contains spoilers about episode 8 of Daisy Jones & the Six.
Daisy Jones was almost neither the muse, nor the somebody.
In episode 8 of the fictional rock band biopic, Daisy (Riley Keough) parties too hard after a show with husband Nicky (Gavin Drea) and nearly overdoses and dies. Nicky, high himself, throws Daisy in the shower, not knowing what else to do.
Billy (Sam Claflin) and Rod (Timothy Olyphant) find her and attempt to pull her back to consciousness, saving her life. Jumping into the shower, Billy cradles Daisy's body, gently slapping her face and begging her to be okay. It marks a major change from the novel, in which Simone (Nabiyah Be) is the one to find her in the shower while Daisy is with Nicky in Italy.
Lacey Terrell/Prime Video Sam Claflin as Billy Dunne
It's a masterful shift, one that further establishes the primal connection between Billy and Daisy, the ways in which they can both destroy and save each other. But as challenging as it was to watch, it was as difficult for the actors to film.
"I found that to be really emotional," Keough tells EW of the scene. "It was hard for me to shoot. It's a really sad scene. Sometimes I can't overthink it. I have to go and be in the moment."
For Claflin, the scene was about leaning into the raw emotion of the sequence.
"That was one of those scenes that it wasn't really scripted necessarily," he explains. "What I'm saying when I'm there. It was like, 'Say whatever you'd say if you were in that situation.' Personally, I hadn't been through that kind of experience before. So I was very sensitive to the idea that people have been through this and go through this and it's a terrifying thing to find someone in that shape."
Lacey Terrell/Prime Video Riley Keough as Daisy Jones
"It was a very, very difficult scene," he adds. "But having Timothy and his portrayal as the third party in that sequence was so on point and so important. He isn't phased at all. It makes Billy's emotional turmoil even more heartbreaking. Because Rod is like, 'Oh, we need a doctor.' It's underplayed in a wonderful way that makes the magic even more elevated."
The scene exposes how deeply Billy cares for Daisy, even if he can't admit it. It also reminds him of why she's dangerous; he came close to a similar fate. But what about Daisy, who by now is married to Nicky and spinning out of control? Did some part of her want to take her life in that moment?
"That's something left open for the audience's interpretation," Keough says. "When things aren't super explained in that way, I like to leave it open for the audience. She has an addiction problem and tends to self-destruct and not want to feel pain. But that's as far as I would like to assess it. The rest is up to the audience."
Daisy Jones & the Six is now streaming on Prime Video with new episodes dropping every Friday through March 24.
Lacey Terrell/Prime Video Sam Claflin and Riley Keough as Billy and Daisy
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