Danielle Riley Keough ( ; born May 29, 1989) is an American actress. She made her feature film debut in a supporting part in the musical biopic The Runaways (2010), portraying Marie Currie. Keough subsequently starred in the independent thriller The Good Doctor (2011), before being cast in a minor role in Steven Soderbergh's comedy film Magic Mike (2012). She had her first big-budget release in the action feature Mad Max: Fury Road (2015).
In 2016, Keough had her breakthrough role as an escort in the first season of the anthology series The Girlfriend Experience, earning a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actress. Her performance as a wayward young woman in the drama American Honey (2016) earned her further acclaim, including an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Supporting Female. She went on to star in the horror film It Comes at Night (2017), Soderbergh's heist film Logan Lucky (2017), and had further horror film appearances in The House That Jack Built (2018) and The Lodge (2019). Following a leading role in the comedy-drama Zola (2020), Keough starred in the Amazon Prime Video thriller series The Terminal List (2022) and drama miniseries Daisy Jones & the Six (2023). The latter earned her a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award.
Keough is a co-founder of the production company Felix Culpa. She has co-directed the drama War Pony (2022), which won the Caméra d'Or. A granddaughter of Elvis Presley, she became the sole owner of his estate Graceland, following her mother, Lisa Marie Presley's death in 2023.
Early life
Keough was born on May 29, 1989, at Providence Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California. She is the eldest child of singer-songwriter Lisa Marie Presley (1968–2023) and musician Danny Keough, and the eldest grandchild of Elvis Presley and actress and businesswoman Priscilla Presley. Keough's father met her mother at the Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre and later played bass in Presley's band. She had a brother, Benjamin Storm Keough (1992–2020), and has two half-sisters from her mother's fourth marriage to Michael Lockwood. According to Keough, her father's ancestry is Irish and mostly Sephardic Jewish (Portuguese-Jewish) and Ashkenazi Jewish (Eastern European Jews), whereas her maternal grandfather, Elvis Presley, was allegedly of Creek, Cherokee, Scots-Irish and Norman descent; Her maternal grandmother, Priscilla, is of part Norwegian descent. Keough's paternal grandmother, Janet Hollander, co-founded the Delphian School and served as its dean from 1995 to 2011.
When Keough was five years old, her parents divorced, and her mother was briefly married to Michael Jackson from 1994 to 1996. Of her upbringing, Keough said that she "grew up very privileged with my mother, but my dad didn't live like that. And I think experiencing both sides has been helpful. My father had mattresses on the floor of his apartments. He lived in cabins and trailer parks. He just didn't have much money... Actually, my memories of growing up with him were so colourful and eccentric and fun. It was a good vibe, you know? When I was like eight I told him, 'I want to grow up and be poor like you!' He was eating a bowl of cereal. I didn't realize how wildly offensive that was!" Keough was raised primarily by her father in Hawaii and Los Angeles, though she at times lived at her mother's Los Angeles home, as well as at the Graceland Estate in Memphis, Tennessee, which her mother inherited following her grandfather Elvis's death. She is now the sole owner of the estate and presides over the sub-trusts of her siblings.
In 2002, when Keough was 13 years old, her mother married actor Nicolas Cage, though this marriage was also short-lived, ending two years later in divorce. For a time, Keough attended a public school in the San Fernando Valley, but was ultimately homeschooled due to her having to frequently travel between her parents' homes.
Career
2004–2008: Modeling
Prior to beginning a film career, Keough began modeling at age 15, appearing in the Autumn/Winter 2004 ready-to-wear show for Dolce & Gabbana, followed by the Christian Dior ready-to-wear show for the Spring/Summer 2005 collection. Keough subsequently appeared on the United States cover of Vogue in August 2004. In 2005 she appeared on four magazine covers: Japanese Elle magazine, Korean Vogue, the French magazines Jalouse, and L'Officiel.