24 Behind-The-Scenes Secrets About "Daisy Jones & The Six" That'll Change How You Watch The Series

Apparently Sam Claflin "butchered" his vocal audition, but Taylor Jenkins Reid loved his acting so much that she cast him anyway and figured they'd deal with his singing later.

1. In the series and on the soundtrack, the cast are actually the ones playing their instruments and singing. Prior to shooting, they had to participate in "band camp" where they spent six months getting music lessons, rehearsing the series' songs, bonding as a band, and basically learning how to be rockstars.

@rileykeough / instagram.com

In an interview with Variety, Sam Claflin (who plays Billy Dunne) explained that they were all cast right before the pandemic began, and fortunately for him, it meant he had about a year to learn how to sing and play guitar. Then, by the time their three-month "band camp" came around, he was prepared. 

2. Because neither of them had done any professional singing before, Riley Keough and Sam Claflin were extremely anxious when they realized they needed to record an album. Production even considered having them lipsync to "stunt singers," but that just motivated them even more to do it all themselves.

Lacey Terrell / Lacey Terrell/Prime Video

Sam said, "Me and [Riley] were basically going, 'I don't think I can sing this, this is too high...Obviously, when we auditioned, we auditioned acting-wise. We never sang together until we were both cast. I'm sure there was also a 'How are these voices gonna sound when they're put together...?' because not every voice compliments one another."

He added that later on in the filming process the producers sent him his initial singing audition tape and he said it was "the worst thing [he's] ever heard." 

3. Riley even said that in her audition she initially lied about being able to sing. She told Variety, "I think I blacked out on that meeting. I don't really remember what happened. And then I auditioned like everybody else, and lied to them and told them l could sing."

@rileykeough / instagram.com

“I didn’t even know how one gets to be able to sing loud. I went to a vocal coach and I was like, they need me to belt. I sounded so bad that I started crying. I was like, I can’t do it, and when I can’t do something it lights a fire in me to be able to do it,” she told Vanity Fair. “I was like, I have to do it. I’m gonna go to this vocal coach, and he’s gonna teach me how to fucking belt, whatever I need to do to get this. It really became about pushing myself to do things I’ve never done before.”

4. When building the character of Daisy Jones, Riley researched fan art and used that as inspiration to create Daisy's signature look, specifically, she noticed the art always portrayed the singer with bangs and hoop earrings.

@rileykeough / instagram.com

"When we were discussing the color of her hair – if she’d have bangs, if she wouldn’t. Her gold earrings, her hoops – I went out and searched for Daisy Jones fan art, and I found common denominators in the art and the color of her hair,” she said in a clip posted to producer Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club page. “Most of them had bangs, most of them she had gold hoops, and her hair was a certain length and it was wavy more than it was straight.”

5. Before filming even started, the cast had to perform an intimate concert as Daisy Jones and The Six to prove that they could realistically play a rock band.

@reecesbookclub / instagram.com

The audience was full of a bunch of the show's producers, Hello Sunshine executives, and Taylor Jenkins Reid. Taylor shared, "I was not just blown away but really, really proud of them because you can tell how hard they worked and you could tell that this is not a show in which it's a bunch of actors pretending these are people that became musicians, they became a rock band." 

6. Riley, Camila Morrone, and Will Harrison were already cast as Daisy, Camila, and Graham before Sam even came onto the project. So, at that point in the casting process, the perfect Billy Dunne needed to have chemistry with all three of these actors.

Lacey Terrell / Lacey Terrell/Prime Video

Sam explained that he first met them all at his chemistry read for Billy. He added that the audition made him feel excited but super nervous, but Riley, Camila, and Will made him feel "at ease." "I owe them a big thank you because, without them, I wouldn't be able to do it," he told Stream Wars.  

7. Taylor said that she watched Sam's acting audition and knew he'd be the perfect Billy Dunne — she didn't even care if he could sing or not.

Lacey Terrell / Lacey Terrell/Prime Video

During Sam's audition he "butchered" Elton John’s “Your Song,” but ended up winning everyone over by acting out the scene where Billy, post-rehab, refuses to pick up his newborn daughter. "I saw a lot of auditions for Billy over a long period of time,” Taylor explained. “I watched that scene and cried. And that was when I was like, ‘They’ll figure out if you can sing or not.’ I don’t care.”

8. In order to play Billy Dunne, Sam Claflin had to learn to play guitar, learn to sing, lose weight, perfect his American accent, grow his hair, and shave his chest.

Lacey Terrell / Lacey Terrell/Prime Video

"It was one hell of a transformation," he said. 

9. Josh Whitehouse revealed that he had about 10 auditions before getting cast as Eddie Rountree.

@joshuawhitehouse / instagram.com

"Some over Zoom, some in the middle of a family dinner, some in LA — there were music auditions and all sorts of things. It was worth every second," he told Stream Wars. 

10. Will originally auditioned to play Eddie, and Riley, who was on the Zoom call at the time, suggested that he play Graham instead.

Lacey Terrell / Lacey Terrell/Prime Video

Will explained, "I'd auditioned for a few of the roles, I think a lot of the cast had. I was auditioning for Eddie at that point, and I had done a Zoom callback. I guess Riley had been in the room and when we finished they were like, 'Well, what do you think?' and she said, 'Well, he's not Eddie. He's Graham.'"

11. In her audition for Karen Sirko, Suki Waterhouse played "Light My Fire" by The Doors.

@reecesbookclub / instagram.com

She said that leading up to the audition she'd play the song on the keyboard constantly and her friends and family couldn't wait for her to get the audition over with so she didn't have to play it anymore.  

12. Daisy Jones & The Six's author Taylor Jenkins Reid was originally inspired by the bands The Civil Wars and Fleetwood Mac when coming up with the concept of the book.

Prime Video / Richard E. Aaron / Getty Images

After The Civil Wars broke up due to “internal discord and irreconcilable differences of ambition," she was intrigued and wondered what it'd be like to create her own version of that. Also being a longtime fan of Fleetwood Mac, Taylor wanted to set the book in the '70s and explore this iconic era in rock music history. “For me, the best way to do that was to mimic what I would argue is the best medium for stories about rock, which is a rock documentary,” she told Rolling Stone. “I wanted it to feel like an episode of Behind the Music, as if you were hearing it from the people directly.”

13. In the book, the documentary takes place 40 years after the band broke up. The series originally intended to keep this time jump, but after testing heavy prosthetics to no avail, they did a 20-year jump using "subtle" aging makeup instead.

Prime Video

Makeup department head Rebecca Wachtel explained, "[The producers] just wanted to age them a little. So, I did subtle ager. I did some ager which changes the texture of the skin and adds wrinkles, but it’s very light.” She wanted to portray aging that felt believable for these characters. 

"Some people age more than others, so I wanted to take that into account,” she added. “Daisy, she has little lines and deeper-set eyes, and she’s shifted her aesthetic, but she’s aged well. Warren, maybe it was a little rougher for him.  And Graham always had a baby face — sometimes people just keep that aesthetic throughout their life, even though you can see gravity is taking control and things are starting to shift.”

14. However, in addition to the "subtle" aging makeup, Sebastian Chacon, who plays Warren, wears a prosthetic chin in his flash forward.

Prime Video

15. In Episode 2, Daisy (Riley Keough, aka Elvis Presley's granddaughter) wears a patterned guitar strap that is identical to the one Elvis wore during the '68 Comeback Special.

Prime Video / NBC / Getty

Danny Rowe, who handled the show's instrument props, revealed that it's not the same strap, but a wild coincidence. However, Riley confirmed to BuzzFeed that the guitar Daisy plays in the show is her own personal guitar. 

16. The first time Suki and Will met was at their chemistry read, and to break the ice Suki asked Will to piggyback her down the hall.

@joshstyle / @sukiwaterhouse / instagram.com

She explained that she wanted to burst into the audition room laughing, and when they were asked to start the scene Will picked her up and piggybacked her all the way into the audition. 

17. Denise Windgate, the head of wardrobe, handmade Daisy's "Navajo blanket jacket" after Riley had sent her a photo of Cher wearing one in the '70s.

Lacey Terrell / Lacey Terrell/Prime Video

"I didn't want it to look like a '70s costume movie...What I really wanted it to look like was real and authentic," Windgate said. "I just wanna tell a story, and I want the characters to feel like they are really the character."

18. One of the bracelets Daisy wears on the show is a handmade replica of one that Stevie Nicks wore in the '70s.

@hellosunshine / instagram.com, Roger Ressmeyer / Getty Images

19. Camila created a playlist that would help her get into character and her go-to "sad song" was The Mamas & the Papas' "Dream A Little Dream of Me."

@camilamorrone / instagram.com

Camila revealed that several of those songs on her playlist, like “I Feel the Earth Move” by Carole King, were included in the series.  

20. While filming the scene in Episode 6, where the band is doing their album cover photo shoot, it was actually snowing and hailing in real life. The cast was all freezing and the production's tents kept blowing away.

@hellosunshine / instagram.com

21. Riley's husband Ben Smith-Peterson actually makes a cameo in Episode 2, as one of Daisy's hookups.

Prime Video, Axelle / FilmMagic

She told Seth Meyers, "The cameo came about because I have to have intercourse with a random person on the show. And the producers were like, 'It would be so funny if it was your husband'...It was more awkward. I think [the producers] were thinking it would be less awkward but then we got there and they're like, 'This is really uncomfortable.' Because for one, I've never had pretend sex with my husband." 

22. Music titans like Phoebe Bridgers, Marcus Mumford, Jackson Browne, and more collaborated with Blake Mills on the songs the band sings in the series.

Kayla Oaddams / WireImage, Shannon Finney / Getty Images

When talking about spearheading the show's music, Blake said, “Creating the library of music for Daisy Jones & the Six was an experience I’ll never forget. I am grateful that, among other things, it afforded me an opportunity to collaborate with so many of my peers, and also some of my heroes.”

23. And now Daisy Jones & The Six is the first fictional band ever to top the iTunes charts with the release of their album Aurora.

Lacey Terrell / Lacey Terrell/Prime Video

Taylor told Rolling Stone, "We finally have Aurora. A stunning, nostalgic, timeless album that captures the drama, pathos, and yearning of the band’s zenith and nadir all in one. A snapshot of time, intoxicating and dangerous. That delicious moment that you know can’t last ... Daisy Jones & The Six are real. And they are better than my wildest dreams.”

24. And finally, the song "Regret Me" is based on Fleetwood Mac's "Silver Springs."

Fleetwood Mac / youtube.com

“It’s not lyrically based on ‘Silver Springs’ at all, and it wouldn’t sound anything like it,” Taylor explained to The Guardian. “But that concept of a woman’s right to be angry is absolutely based on Stevie Nicks singing ‘Silver Springs’ at Lindsey Buckingham during their reunion [album and] show, The Dance [in 1997].”