Riley Keough on How to Develop Empathy for Your Characters In The Envelope: The Actors Podcast

Riley Keough could be considered an authority on how actors can avoid judging their characters. The indie film star, who has held onto a lifelong dream of playing fascinating, liberated women on camera, reveals the different creative processes she uses to connect with such roles: I dont know if you need to love your character. But, she adds, When youre playing somebody, you have to try and find empathy for them. Growing up in Los Angeles surrounded by entertainers (including her mother Lisa Marie Presley), Riley worked as a model before debuting in, TheRunaways and breaking out in Mad Max: Fury Road. Shes starred in It Comes at Night, The Lodge, The Devil All the Time, worked with Steven Soderbergh in Magic Mike, Logan Lucky, and Season 1 of The Girlfriend Experience, and earned a Spirit Award nomination for American Honey. Riley now plays Stefani, a chaotic stripper, in A24s Sundance hit Zola, adapted by writerdirector Janicza Bravo and writer Jeremy O. Harris from an infamo