Riley Keough on How to Develop Empathy for Your Characters - In The Envelope: The Actor's 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 don’t know if you need to love your character.” But, she adds, “When you’re 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.” She’s 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 A24’s Sundance hit “Zola,” adapted by writer-director Janicza Bravo and writer Jeremy O. Harris from an infamo