Riley Keough Talks Her New Film 'The Discovery'
And working with acting legend Robert Redford.
And working with acting legend Robert Redford.
In Charlie McDowell’s sci-fi romance The Discovery, Riley Keough plays Lacey, a young woman abandoned by her father and sister after they commit suicide together. All alone in the world, Lacey hooks up with a cultish lab scientist (played with sinister charm by Robert Redford) to examine what really happens when you live and die. If the offering sounds thoroughly existential, it’s because it is, but no more than Keough herself. “I ask a lot of questions,” says the 27-year-old starlet. “I’m very curious about the reason for everything.”
Though Keough didn’t come up with any firm answers about mortality while filming (in fact, it was the opposite: she says she walked away even more confused about what it all means), she appreciated the sense of collaboration on set. “It’s fun for me to be around people like Charlie who are at least thinking about the same things, so I don’t feel so alone,” she explains. It seems like the young actress is suddenly everywhere, from Mad Max: Fury
It seems like the young actress is suddenly everywhere, from Mad Max: Fury Road to The Girlfriend Experience and American Honey, and expect to see even more of her in the coming year. She has six films due in 2017, including The Discovery (out now on Netflix), but Keough stresses that her rise to the A-list wasn’t the result of a string of successes. “It’s been a progression. It wasn’t like it was one movie and it happened overnight,” she says. “My life isn’t any different, but I’m in a place where I have real options.”
Those include acting alongside icons like Redford, an especially intense experience for her. “The first day I worked with him, I couldn’t even speak to him. I was just freaking out by myself,” she reveals. “I couldn’t believe he was standing in front of me.” As for what’s next, Keough is dying to do a comedy and is currently working on her own projects. “I’m in the process of writing a film right now that I’m going to make hopefully this year,” she reveals. “You have more control in a way, but it’s less and more pressure because it.” Here’s betting Keough handles said pressure like a pro.
