by While many people have unfulfilled dreams of becoming a rock star, the cast of the new TV adaptation of Daisy Jones And The Six had to become a world-famous band to make the show.
It is based on the 2019 best-selling novel – which is itself believed to have inspired the band Fleetwood Mac – and tells the story of the group’s trajectory into megastars and the romantic relationships of its members.
Most of the story is set in the 70s, so it’s a period piece, but we also see the band members reminiscing about their rise to stardom in a documentary set in the 90s. Riley Keough plays the titular Daisy Jones, and stars include Sam Claflin, Camila Morrone, Suki Waterhouse and Nabiyah Be.
Photo: Lacey Terrell/Prime Video/Amazon Studios
For Hunger Games star Claflin, who plays one of the group’s lead singers, Billy Dunne, the opportunity to play the father was the most enjoyable aspect of making the film.
“I really loved being a dad,” he told the Sky News Backstage podcast. “As a real dad, it was nice to put my experience in filmmaking to use for the first time.
“It was really refreshing for me to play a character who went through similar struggles that I went through as a dad and trying to be an artist at the same time. It was a real joy for me to experience the drama that surrounds his life, I believe.”
Claflin says that the desire to bring his own experiences to his performances is something relatively new to him.
“I think I spent most of my early career desperately trying to get away from myself and trying to prove to people that I can do it and I can wear this hat and I can, you know, I can be angry and I can be sad. But I guess as I get older I think no, I actually really want to tap into my own experiences and be very authentic in my performances and kind of tap into the things that relate to me.”
During the series, viewers will see Daisy Jones meet The Six and their subsequent rise to stardom. In addition to intertwining relationships, it also explores fame and its pitfalls.
Also starring are Suki Waterhouse and Nabiyah Be (below). Photography: Pamela Littky/Prime Video/Amazon Studios
Claflin says being a celebrity in the 1970s was very different from being a celebrity today.
“You can be seen everywhere – everything you say is instantly broadcast, tweeted and tik-toked and becomes a meme and a gif,” he said. “Or jif – is it gif or jif?”
He continued: “I think you can’t do anything without being seen right now, I think there are definitely positives with that, but of course there are also huge negatives.
“I’m just speaking for myself and I don’t know if I live enough in the public eye to really deserve a lot of attention in my private life, but I feel very lucky to be able to live my life, my private life, very private – I have I have kids and I live with my family and no one really knows what we look like.”
L-R: Camila Morrone as Camila Dunne, Sam Claflin as Billy Dunne and Riley Keough as Daisy Jones in Daisy Jones and the Six. Photo: Pamela Littky/Prime Video/Amazon Studios
Morrone plays Billy Dunne’s wife, also called Camila. The actress has previously been in a relationship with Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio, but says that, like Claflin, she manages to avoid being too scrutinized.
“There was definitely a mystery around 70s fame, I think today with social media and paparazzi there is accessibility around fame,” she said.
“I think it’s cool to live before the iPhone era where everything you do now can be recorded and photographed – back then there was a lot more freedom to talk and be open and play around with ideas and thoughts and party and, you know, loosen up a bit.
“And now there’s always the tension of knowing there’s an element you have no control over, so I can imagine that would be a really different experience than fame and beautiful in its own way – but yeah, me too, like Sam, live a very normally, I wouldn’t say that covers everything in my life.”
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Morrone’s character is not part of the team named after the show, but he is an integral part of the story. She says that what she liked most about creating the show was the aesthetics.
“I’ve never played a character for whom the costume was important, and for me this costume was very important because it helped me move around – I was often barefoot and felt like Laurel Canyon, Earth-Mom, hippie,” she said.
“It was also fun to create this journey where she starts in Pittsburgh as a young conservative teenager living with her parents and then becomes the wife of the biggest rock star in the world; becomes a woman and explores her sensuality, her sexuality… she goes from 17, 18, 19 to her late 20s and becomes the young woman she will be.”
Daisy Jones And The Six is streaming on Prime Video. Listen to our review in the latest episode of Backstage – the film and TV podcast from Sky News
