Lisa Marie Presley Warned Riley Keough She'd Have to Be 'Really Good' at Acting or Risk Being a 'Joke' as a Celeb's Kid

Mar. 15, 2025

Photo:FayesVision/AlamyWhenRiley Keoughdecided to pursue an acting career, her momLisa Marie Presleyhad a warning: be great, or run the risk of not being taken seriously.Keough, 35, opened up about her late mom’s advice on an episode of thePodcrushedpodcast on Wednesday, Dec. 11, explaining that Lisa Marie was well aware that her daughter’s status as the child of a celebrity could hinder her dreams.“My mom was very intense about being a celebrity’s child,” she said. “She was basically like, ‘If you’re gonna do anything, you’re gonna be like, a joke to a lot of people. So if you’re gonna do something, you have to be really good at it. You can’t just try it.’”Lisa Marie, whodied in January 2023 at age 54, knew well the pitfalls of being the kid of a star, as her father wasElvis Presley, and her mother the actressPriscilla Presley.Keough said she and heryounger brother Benjamin, whodied in 2020 at age 27, kept their mom’s advice in mind.Riley Keough at the Golden Globe Awards in January 2024.Amy Sussman/Getty“I felt a lot of pressure, I think. And so that was kind of in my head and in my brother’s head,” she toldPodcrushedhostsPenn Badgley, Sophie Ansari and Nava Kavelin. “She was very much like, ‘You can’t just be a celebrity kid. If you’re gonna act or sing or whatever you’re gonna do, you have to be better at it or as good as everybody else.’”TheDaisy Jones & the Sixactress continued, “I felt like I put a lot of pressure on myself, you know?”Luckily for Keough, her risk seems to have paid off. After booking her feature film debut on her very first audition (forThe Runawaysin 2010), she’s carved a successful acting career with roles in movies likeMad Max: Fury RoadandZola.Priscilla Presley, Lisa Marie Presley and Riley Keough seen at the Warner Bros. premiere of “Mad Max: Fury Road” on May 7, 2015, in Los Angeles.Eric Charbonneau/GettyHer starring turn inDaisy Jones & the Six even earned her best actress nominations at the Emmy Awards and the Golden Globes.In October, Keough — who is thesole trustee of Lisa Marie’s estate— helped finish and publish her mother’s posthumous memoirFrom Here to the Great Unknown.“A lot of our life was very happy,” shetold PEOPLE that month. “The tragedy within my family has been so heartbreaking, but we also had an incredible amount of fun and these beautiful experiences that I don’t know if people get to have very often. I feel extremely grateful for that. We’re mostly always in laughter and living in a comedy. That’s how we went through our life. My life has not been a tragedy. It’s been a large collection of many short stories of all genres.”

Photo:FayesVision/Alamy

FayesVision/Alamy

WhenRiley Keoughdecided to pursue an acting career, her momLisa Marie Presleyhad a warning: be great, or run the risk of not being taken seriously.Keough, 35, opened up about her late mom’s advice on an episode of thePodcrushedpodcast on Wednesday, Dec. 11, explaining that Lisa Marie was well aware that her daughter’s status as the child of a celebrity could hinder her dreams.“My mom was very intense about being a celebrity’s child,” she said. “She was basically like, ‘If you’re gonna do anything, you’re gonna be like, a joke to a lot of people. So if you’re gonna do something, you have to be really good at it. You can’t just try it.’”Lisa Marie, whodied in January 2023 at age 54, knew well the pitfalls of being the kid of a star, as her father wasElvis Presley, and her mother the actressPriscilla Presley.Keough said she and heryounger brother Benjamin, whodied in 2020 at age 27, kept their mom’s advice in mind.Riley Keough at the Golden Globe Awards in January 2024.Amy Sussman/Getty“I felt a lot of pressure, I think. And so that was kind of in my head and in my brother’s head,” she toldPodcrushedhostsPenn Badgley, Sophie Ansari and Nava Kavelin. “She was very much like, ‘You can’t just be a celebrity kid. If you’re gonna act or sing or whatever you’re gonna do, you have to be better at it or as good as everybody else.’”TheDaisy Jones & the Sixactress continued, “I felt like I put a lot of pressure on myself, you know?”Luckily for Keough, her risk seems to have paid off. After booking her feature film debut on her very first audition (forThe Runawaysin 2010), she’s carved a successful acting career with roles in movies likeMad Max: Fury RoadandZola.Priscilla Presley, Lisa Marie Presley and Riley Keough seen at the Warner Bros. premiere of “Mad Max: Fury Road” on May 7, 2015, in Los Angeles.Eric Charbonneau/GettyHer starring turn inDaisy Jones & the Six even earned her best actress nominations at the Emmy Awards and the Golden Globes.In October, Keough — who is thesole trustee of Lisa Marie’s estate— helped finish and publish her mother’s posthumous memoirFrom Here to the Great Unknown.“A lot of our life was very happy,” shetold PEOPLE that month. “The tragedy within my family has been so heartbreaking, but we also had an incredible amount of fun and these beautiful experiences that I don’t know if people get to have very often. I feel extremely grateful for that. We’re mostly always in laughter and living in a comedy. That’s how we went through our life. My life has not been a tragedy. It’s been a large collection of many short stories of all genres.”

WhenRiley Keoughdecided to pursue an acting career, her momLisa Marie Presleyhad a warning: be great, or run the risk of not being taken seriously.

Keough, 35, opened up about her late mom’s advice on an episode of thePodcrushedpodcast on Wednesday, Dec. 11, explaining that Lisa Marie was well aware that her daughter’s status as the child of a celebrity could hinder her dreams.

“My mom was very intense about being a celebrity’s child,” she said. “She was basically like, ‘If you’re gonna do anything, you’re gonna be like, a joke to a lot of people. So if you’re gonna do something, you have to be really good at it. You can’t just try it.’”

Lisa Marie, whodied in January 2023 at age 54, knew well the pitfalls of being the kid of a star, as her father wasElvis Presley, and her mother the actressPriscilla Presley.

Keough said she and heryounger brother Benjamin, whodied in 2020 at age 27, kept their mom’s advice in mind.

Riley Keough at the Golden Globe Awards in January 2024.Amy Sussman/Getty

Amy Sussman/Getty

“I felt a lot of pressure, I think. And so that was kind of in my head and in my brother’s head,” she toldPodcrushedhostsPenn Badgley, Sophie Ansari and Nava Kavelin. “She was very much like, ‘You can’t just be a celebrity kid. If you’re gonna act or sing or whatever you’re gonna do, you have to be better at it or as good as everybody else.’”

TheDaisy Jones & the Sixactress continued, “I felt like I put a lot of pressure on myself, you know?”

Luckily for Keough, her risk seems to have paid off. After booking her feature film debut on her very first audition (forThe Runawaysin 2010), she’s carved a successful acting career with roles in movies likeMad Max: Fury RoadandZola.

Priscilla Presley, Lisa Marie Presley and Riley Keough seen at the Warner Bros. premiere of “Mad Max: Fury Road” on May 7, 2015, in Los Angeles.Eric Charbonneau/Getty

Eric Charbonneau/Getty

Her starring turn inDaisy Jones & the Six even earned her best actress nominations at the Emmy Awards and the Golden Globes.

In October, Keough — who is thesole trustee of Lisa Marie’s estate— helped finish and publish her mother’s posthumous memoirFrom Here to the Great Unknown.

“A lot of our life was very happy,” shetold PEOPLE that month. “The tragedy within my family has been so heartbreaking, but we also had an incredible amount of fun and these beautiful experiences that I don’t know if people get to have very often. I feel extremely grateful for that. We’re mostly always in laughter and living in a comedy. That’s how we went through our life. My life has not been a tragedy. It’s been a large collection of many short stories of all genres.”

source: people.com