Of all the popular actors working today whose families were already established in the entertainment industry, Riley Keough is not often accused of being an example of nepotism. Being the granddaughter of the most iconic musician of all-time certainly sets you on a road for success, and in recent weeks, controversy over the career trajectories of so-called “nepo babies” has dominated popular culture media. Yet Keough has found her own road to success by taking on challenging, dynamic roles and is unafraid to cast herself in an unfavorable light; she is essentially the queen of morally ambiguous characters.


The granddaughter of Elvis Presley, Riley Keough first began acting with a string of minor roles in The Runaways and Magic Mike. While Keough likely had a fair share of options at her disposal, these projects indicated in particular she had the ambition to appear in not-quite mainstream projects from interesting filmmakers, and take on roles that are emotionally vague by choosing to shade herself in gray morality. This has made her an interesting and valuable character actress who has avoided being typecast or given a franchise role. While she certainly had help getting her foot in the door, Keough’s bravery in accepting challenging parts has made her one of the most exciting young actresses we have today.

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Riley Keough Had an Early Show Biz Start

Riley Keough in The Girlfriend Experience
Image via STARZ

In today’s cinematic ecosystem, it is rare to find a young performer who doesn’t have some sort of role in a major franchise or previously established series. Keough wasn’t any different, but she chose her first major franchise role (and first sizable role) was in Mad Max: Fury Road. Fury Road was a major gamble, as the production of George Miller’s long-awaited sequel was notoriously tumultuous. However, Keough understood that Miller was working on a more intricate level than other blockbuster filmmakers, and gave herself over to a largely physical, understated role. Capable was a character who communicated primarily through nonverbal signs, but Keough pulled it off; her relationship with Nux (Nicholas Hoult) is undeniably the emotional crux of the film.

Riley Keough showed a comfortability combating stigma around body image once more in The Girlfriend Experience, a morally ambiguous thriller series that cast her as a high-end escort. While this was again the type of project that could have easily made her the subject of ridicule if it had not been respectful, Keough’s dedication to the role allowed viewers to understand the trauma endured by sex workers.

RELATED: From ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ to ‘Zola’: The 9 Most Essential Riley Keough Performances

Similarly, Keough’s interest in strong female roles was seen in her collaboration with female filmmaker Andrea Arnold on American Honey. It was another highly ambitious arthouse project that couldn’t be less mainstream if it tried, and featured content that likely warded off most casual viewers. However, Keough’s versatile, charismatic performance as the crew leader Krystal was one of her best; while Krystal’s position due to her impoverished environment makes her relatable, she’s often irritating to the viewer due to her conflicts with Star (Sasha Lane).

Riley Keough’s Interesting Genre Projects

In her next few roles, Riley Keough continued to work on interesting genre projects that certainly weren’t gaining her notice from a mainstream audience (who might have been fascinated by the idea of seeing Elvis’ granddaughter in a movie). She brought a moral ambiguity to characters that could be hilarious, terrifying, or heartbreaking. The Discovery cast her as a deceptive, radicalized medical professional, and she got to play a traumatized mother who goes to extreme measures to protect her family in the post-apocalyptic thriller It Comes At Night.

While Keough’s projects tended to be darker in nature, she certainly wasn’t adverse to comedy. In another collaboration with Soderbergh, Keough appeared as Millie, the sibling of Jimmy (Channing Tatum) and Clyde (Adam Driver), in the hilarious heist comedy Logan Lucky. In a film filled with expressive, eccentric character, Keough’s performance is the sharp, judgmental voice of reason. Perhaps it would have been easy to get lost amongst so many iconic actors, but Keough’s pessimism on moral and legal standards only made her a more interesting contrast to the other characters.

Not all of her comedic roles were quite as straightforward; in Under the Silver Lake, she appears as a parodical version of a “manic pixie dream girl” whose lack of agency is satirical in nature. Keough understood that this was a more complex joke of a role that not all audience members would pick up on, but for those in line with director David Robert Mitchell’s sense-of-humor, it was perfect. Similarly, Zola required her to play a grating, manipulative sex worker who engages in cultural appropriation and egregious criminal activity; it’s a credit to Keough that she’s both detestable and hilarious.

Riley Keough Delivers Consistently Great Performances

Riley Keough as Grace in The Lodge
Image via NEON

Riley Keough seems to be able to craft great performances out of any material. The Lodge is an overwrought, largely basic horror film that recycles familiar cliches about trauma, but Keough’s heartbreaking (and terrifying) role as a former cult member in isolation was undeniably a reason to watch. Playing a mother who is relatable, yet guilty of putting her children in danger is not an easy task, but Keough pulled off the challenge with her role in Hold the Dark. While the film itself is a bit of a slog, it’s impossible to look away from Keough’s performance.

Similarly, regardless of the faults that viewers had with the excessive violence in Lars von Trier’s The House That Jack Built or the punishing themes of The Devil All The Time, Keough contributed something valuable to the conversation surrounding them. It speaks to her bravery that she has worked with so many controversial artists.

Keough had a platform towards a built-in rise to success, but she didn’t take the easy path of franchise roles and mainstream parts. Not only did Keough choose to spotlight rising filmmakers and led her name to smaller projects, but she’s been able to take on roles that promote important issues and raise ethically demanding questions. The cryptic nature of her characters makes each performance even more magnetic, and Keough’s name can be associated with films that are guaranteed to start a conversation.



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