Keough projects self into terrifying ‘Night’
NEW YORK — Riley Keough, who stars in today’s disturbing “It Comes at Night,” might have coasted on her status as Elvis Presley’s eldest granddaughter.
Instead, this daughter of Lisa Marie Presley and Danny Keough abandoned a lucrative modeling career to prove herself in movies big and small such as “The Runaways,” “Mad Max: Fury Road” and “American Honey.”
Curled up in a cozy armchair at the Crosby Street Hotel, Keough, 28, recalled growing up in L.A.
“I always wanted to do film, definitely. I wanted to act — but I was too shy. So I thought, ‘I’m going to be a director.’
“But I did theater when I was a little kid and my nerves really got to me. When I did theater, my teachers always said, ‘Project!’ and would take me outside to yell at somebody. I had a really hard time with it.
“Then I visited a set when I was 12 and I saw that the actors wore microphones” — she pointed to her collar where a mic could be hidden — “and you didn’t have to yell. So when I put into the fact that when you did movies you didn’t need to do that, acting was more palatable.”
Does she still consider herself shy?
“No! Something happened when I turned 18 — it just disappeared. I’m awkward probably.”
In the post-apocalyptic, sparsely populated world of “It Comes at Night,” Keough, Christopher Abbott, Joel Edgerton and Carmen Ejogo (“Selma”) play members of two families trying to escape the airborne virus that has decimated the population.
“It’s about the human mind, fear, paranoia — and how that affects your decision-making, but I really wanted to work with Trey (Edward Shults, director and writer),” Keough said. “I saw his film ‘Krisha’ and thought he was brilliant.”