In the age of celebrity side hustles and periodic career reinventions, Suki Waterhouse is a true Hollywood multi-hyphenate.
Forgoing dipping her toe in any pool, Suki waded right into singing, acting and modelling – a triple threat with a shedload of creative energy. After making it big as a model during her teens, she turned her attention to acting with roles in The Broken Hearts Gallery and Love, Rosie, acting alongside Lily Collins and Sam Claflin, while slowly building a cult following for her retro pop music.
She shines as no-nonsense musician Karen in TV series Daisy Jones and the Six, adapted from Taylor Jenkins Reid’s bestselling novel about a doomed, fictional, Fleetwood Mac-inspired band in the 1970s. Suki is reunited onscreen with Claflin once more, who plays tortured lead singer Billy Dunne.
The South London-based film has been dubbed as the Gen Z answer to Notting Hill.
Karen has been a fan favourite since Jenkins Reid’s novel was released, due to her laser focus on her success as a musician, her eye-rolling response to the sexist stereotypes of the 1970s and rejection of traditional romantic relationships.
Suki brings sparkle and sass to the role, a perfect fit for many reasons, not least because her own musical profile is on the rise – she’s currently on the road performing her own music in the US and South America.
GLAMOUR catches up with her to talk all things Daisy Jones during some post-shoot downtime in Miami, before she heads off to perform at Lollapalooza Festival in Chile.
So what drew you to Daisy Jones and The Six?
It was absolutely everything about it. Every single element. I was so excited to be part of a Reese Witherspoon-produced project – her company (Hello Sunshine) has the best eye for incredible, female-led television shows.
Also, the opportunity to go back to the 70s. The fashion, the music, being able to learn instruments and actually play together as a band in particular, that’s been one of my passions for so long. I was in from the get go.
Of all the women on the show, your character Karen is drawn to a non-conventional life. How important is it, do you think, to tell different stories of what women can do with their lives?
Definitely. Sometimes I have to remind myself of how deeply embedded those pressures are in women, because I feel like I'm so surrounded by women who are so unafraid, you know, to live differently. I just know a lot of eccentric people who just don't give a f**k and fully live the life that they want to.
I think it's incredibly important to me to see women live a slightly unconventional life that isn't cookie cutter and a character like Karen… just to see a woman that has no regrets and to see somebody that has made the decisions that they wanted to and, you know, isn't [portrayed as] regretful just because they decided not to have children or a husband or, you know, those things that I think we're conditioned to think that we need.
How far do you think we’ve come in that respect, in terms of expectations of women, since then, do you think? Particularly in Hollywood and the entertainment industry?
I was thinking about this the other day when I was watching the Superbowl and Rihanna’s performance. I thought, ‘I can't imagine a band in the 70s, Christine McVie or Stevie Nicks presenting their baby on stage as something to be so proud of and accepted.'
Rihanna is just the Marilyn Monroe of our generation. That moment made me think of the difference culturally that we have now, and that pregnancy is a lot more celebrated, it’s much more accepted to have a career and and also have children at the same time.
But that's just one kind of fragment of a situation and obviously it doesn't take into account the privilege of being a massive pop star. It's still, you know, incredibly difficult. Women will always struggle more than men when it comes to being able to balance a family and a career.
Absolutely. On the show we see Karen face this inequality in her relationship with her bandmate Graham – it's such a gendered double standard in relationships.
Yeah I think Graham was very blinded by what I call sweet misogyny. He’s incredibly misogynistic towards her but he's also incredibly in love with her so she has to deal with his fury and his disappointment, alongside her own desires, which I think is one of the most difficult things. And it's something that we often have to deal with as women.
How did Karen and her story inspire you, personally? Did she impact your own music and songwriting?
Karen is very, very fearless and for her, the music and the songs come above everything. She existed in this man's world, and she stayed. She’s very true to herself and believes in herself a lot. Whereas when I signed on to Daisy Jones and started rehearsing, I think I still lacked confidence to really put myself out there with music, go the extra step and make an album. I'd wanted to make an album for years.
So instead I just put out singles at that point, just been putting up a song every year or something. I hadn't gotten to the place mentally where I was ready to put myself out there and make a record. I really credit Karen – being able to play her, I think, subconsciously got me to finally record my album.
That's such a lovely progression, and you can take Karen into whatever you do next. You've been writing songs for such a long time, do you find it empowering to tell stories in that way?
I think music’s the only thing that I've ever really had complete control of. It's unlike anything else – I can come up with the idea and I can make it in my bedroom or anywhere that I am. I can voice memo it to my best friend.
There's something about just that element of control actually, where so many things in life are out of my control and music is the one thing that I feel like it kind of doesn't matter what happens once it's out. It's kind of all just a bonus that people connect to it, but it's more a chance for me to truly put that version of of events from my perspective into a a song and just kind of expel it from myself – I find it very freeing.
When it comes to taking back control, is there anything else you do to keep yourself grounded, to protect your mental health and keep yourself centred when you're going between all these projects?
I wouldn't say that I'm the most grounded person that exists. I could probably be a lot more grounded. I think keeping grounded is all about the simple things – having a really wonderful family and support system and great friends.
I'm 31 and I've been through a lot. In the last 10 years of growing up and becoming a woman and I feel much more that when things are difficult I can rely on my inner strength to kind of keep me grounded. But yeah, I wish I could tell you that I meditate for 20 minutes a day and and do lots of stretching, but I don't currently.
What’s your relationship with social media like?
I’ve definitely had times in my life where I found it really difficult and I just desperately wanted to delete the apps and not be a part of it, particularly because of the negative comments.
When I was younger, it would make me feel kind of scared of the world in a strange way. But my relationship with it now is really positive and I actually have a lot of fun on it. I think it took me a while to figure out how to how to enjoy it.
It can be really great, sharing parts of yourself. I know my boundaries around it. I know exactly what I'm okay with sharing and what I need to keep private, and and for me that balance works.
There’s a distinction, a boundary that I've managed to find that that kind of works for me. I’m obsessed with making memes and my Twitter personality is completely unhinged and Instagram is a bit more chill. I guess I feel like I enjoy it now.
On the show, we see Karen talk about being told to dress a certain way, act a certain way, to be taken seriously in the entertainment industry. Have you encountered these pressures yourself?
Definitely – when I was modelling, as a teenager. Back then, sitting in an agent’s office, you don't have that much of a choice but to conform, and I think I struggled with that. I was always in weird crazy outfits as a teenager and they would want me to be in tights and a pair of heels and a skirt and a Topshop t-shirt. Very stripped down, that ‘make sure we can see your body’ look.
I think I also just felt like really insecure about my body at that age, as you do when you're 15. So I definitely never stuck to those rules and I still sort of wore what I wanted and that actually worked for me. Once I started working more, I think people bend to your style and they leave you alone after a while.
I think remaining steadfast with how you want to look and where you want to go is super, super admirable.
Yeah, I think I learned there aren't really any rules. Not really. I think you just have to go up against them or figure out a way to kind of conform to them sometimes, and then bend these ‘rules' when you want to.
This interview was edited and condensed for clarity.
Daisy Jones and The Six is available to watch now on Amazon Prime Video.
