Daisy Jones And The Six: Sam Claflin and Camila Morrone speak to Sky News’ Backstage podcast about new adaptation

Published

2 years ago

March 4, 2023

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While many people have unfulfilled dreams of being a rock star, the cast of the new TV adaptation of Daisy Jones And The Six were required to pull off being a world famous band in order to make the show.

It’s based on the best-selling novel from 2019 – which is itself thought to be inspired by the band Fleetwood Mac – and is about the trajectory of a group who become mega stars, and the romantic relationships of its members.

The bulk of the story happens in the 1970s, so it’s a period piece, but we also see the bandmates looking back on their rise to fame in a documentary set in the 1990s. Riley Keough plays the titular Daisy Jones, while Sam Claflin, Camila Morrone, Suki Waterhouse and Nabiyah Be are also among the stars.

For Hunger Games star Claflin, who plays one of the group’s lead singers Billy Dunne, it was the opportunity to play a father that was the most enjoyable aspect of filming.

“I genuinely loved being a dad,” he told Sky News’ Backstage podcast. “As an actual real-life dad it was nice to bring my experience into filmmaking for the first time.

“It was really, for me, refreshing playing a character who went through similar struggles that I’ve been through being a dad and trying to be an artist at the same time. So it was a real joy for me to experience the drama that surrounds his life, I suppose.”

Claflin says wanting to bring his own experiences to his performances is something relatively new for him.

“I think I spent the majority of my early years in my career desperately trying to get away from myself and trying to prove to people that I can do this and I can wear this hat and I can, you know, I can be angry and I can be sad. But I think as I’m getting older, I’m like, no, actually I really want to use my own experiences and be very authentic with my performance, and kind of tap into things that are relatable to me.”

During the series, viewers see how Daisy Jones meets The Six and their subsequent rise to stardom. As well as the intertwined relationships, it also explores fame and its trappings.

Claflin says being a celebrity in the 1970s was very different to being a star today.

“You’re seen everywhere – everything you say is immediately broadcast and tweeted and tik-toked and becomes a meme and a gif,” he said. “Or a jif – is it a gif or a jif?”

He continued: “I think it’s impossible to do anything without being seen now, I think there’s definitely with that positives, but there’s obviously huge negatives.

“I only speak for myself and I don’t know that I live out in the public eye enough to really warrant much interest in my private life, but I feel like I’m very fortunate that I get to live my life, my private life, very privately – I have my kids and live my life with my family and no one really knows what we look like.”

Morrone plays Billy Dunne’s wife, also called Camila. The actress was previously in a relationship with Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio, but says like Claflin she manages to avoid too much scrutiny.

“There was definitely a mystery around ’70s fame, I think today with social media and paparazzi there’s an accessibility around fame,” she said.

“I think it is kind of cool to have lived before the era of iPhones, where everything now that you do can be recorded, photographed – there was much more freedom back then to have conversations and be open and play around with ideas and thoughts and to party and, you know, kind of let loose.

“And now there’s always this tension of knowing that there’s this element that’s out of your control, so I can imagine that that would have been a really different experience to fame and beautiful in its own way – but yeah, I also, like Sam, live a very normal life, I wouldn’t say that it’s all encompassing in my life.”

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Morrone’s character isn’t in the band the show is named after, but is an integral part of the story. She says the thing she loved most about making the programme was the aesthetics.

“I’ve never gotten to play a character where costume was important, and for me this costume was very important because it kind of helped the way that I moved – I was barefoot a lot, and it kind of made me feel like Laurel Canyon, Earth-Mom, hippie,” she said.

“It was also fun to create that journey, where she starts off in Pittsburgh as a young teenage conservative girl who lives with her parents, and then she becomes the wife of the biggest rock star in the world; becoming a woman and discovering her sensuality, sexuality… she goes from like 17, 18, 19 to her late twenties and becomes the young woman that she’s going to be.”

Daisy Jones And The Six is streaming on Prime Video. Hear our review in the latest episode of Backstage – the film and TV podcast from Sky News

Entertainment

Glastonbury 2025 line-up revealed

Published

11 hours ago

March 6, 2025

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The 1975 and Olivia Rodrigo will be among the stars headlining Glastonbury Festival this year, it has been announced.

Glastonbury organisers have revealed the line-up for this summer’s event, taking place between 25 June and 29 June, after months of speculation.

The 1975 will take to the iconic Pyramid Stage on the Friday to headline, then Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young will perform on Saturday and Olivia Rodrigo on the Sunday.

Other big names performing include British pop sensation Charli XCX, rapper Loyle Carner electronic group The Prodigy.

The announcement comes after Sir Rod Stewart was booked for the Sunday teatime legend slot and Young was confirmed as a headliner earlier this year.

Young’s announcement in January came amid some confusion, as he had days before told fans he was pulling out of the festival because the BBC’s involvement was a “corporate turn-off”.

The Canadian singer-songwriter later said this decision was down to “an error in the information I received”.

The 1975 will be headlining for the first time, having made their Glastonbury debut in 2014.

The Cheshire band, known for hits such as Somebody Else and Chocolate, have regularly made headlines due to the antics of frontman Matty Healy.

Glastonbury, which takes place at Worthy Farm in Somerset in the summer, has worked closely with the BBC – its exclusive broadcast partner – since 1997.

Appetite for the esteemed festival saw standard tickets sell out in 35 minutes in November.

They cost £373.50 plus a £5 booking fee, up £18.50 from the price from the 2024 festival, and were sold exclusively through the See Tickets website.

The date for the resale – where tickets not fully paid for are put back up for purchase – is set for some time in spring.

The headliners last summer on the iconic Pyramid Stage were Dua Lipa, SZA and Coldplay, who made history as the first act to headline the festival five times.

2026 is likely to be a year off for Glastonbury, with the festival traditionally taking place four out of every five years, and the fifth year reserved for rehabilitation of the land.

Entertainment

Sabrina Carpenter and Charli XCX BRIT Awards appearances spark hundreds of Ofcom complaints

Published

1 day ago

March 5, 2025

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Sabrina Carpenter and Charli XCX BRIT Awards appearances spark hundreds of Ofcom complaints

Ofcom received 825 complaints over the Brit Awards, with the majority relating to Sabrina Carpenter’s raunchy performance and Charli XCX’s outfit, the media watchdog says.

US pop star Carpenter, 25, sported a red sparkly military-style blazer dress for her performance at the awards show on Saturday night, paired with stockings and suspenders for a rendition of Espresso.

The song was mixed with a Rule Britannia mash-up, as dancers in military parade dress followed her.

She then switched to a red sparkly bra and shorts for her next song, Bad Chem, which she performed alongside dancers in bras and shorts while sitting suggestively on a large bed.

Carpenter later received the global success award at the ceremony, and was also nominated in the international artist and international song of the year categories.

But much of the buzz on social media surrounded her performance, which took place before the 9pm watershed.

Ofcom said some of the complaints were also aimed at British pop sensation Charli XCX, who dominated the night by winning five awards, including album of the year.

Some viewers took issue with her outfit – a black see-through dress.

The singer addressed the concerns during her acceptance speech for artist of the year, saying: “I heard that ITV were complaining about my nipples. I feel like we’re in the era of ‘free the nipple’ though, right?”

Carpenter paid tribute to the UK in her acceptance speech, saying: “The Brits have given me this award, and this feels like such an insane honour in a very primarily tea-drinking country… you really understood my dry sense of humour because your sense of humour is so, so dry. So I love y’all more than you even understand.”

Entertainment

Why is Noel Clarke suing The Guardian?

Published

1 day ago

March 5, 2025

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Actor Noel Clarke begins his High Court libel case against The Guardian’s publisher today.

Clarke, 49, is suing Guardian News and Media (GNM) over a series of articles it published about him in April 2021.

They were based on the claims of 20 women Clarke knew “in a professional capacity” who allege his behaviour towards them amounted to sexual misconduct.

Clarke, known for his roles in the Kidulthood trilogy and Dr Who, “vehemently” denies “any sexual misconduct or wrongdoing”.

What will the trial cover?

Clarke is suing GNM for libel, sometimes also referred to as defamation.

It’s a civil tort – not a criminal offence – defined as false written statements that have damaged the person’s reputation. This means Clarke can seek redress or damages but no one will face charges or prison.

Clarke claims the articles The Guardian published in 2021 altered public opinion of him, damaged his reputation, and lost him work.

He said after the allegations emerged: “In a 20-year career, I have put inclusivity and diversity at the forefront of my work and never had a complaint made against me.

“If anyone who has worked with me has ever felt uncomfortable or disrespected, I sincerely apologise. I vehemently deny any sexual misconduct or wrongdoing and intend to defend myself against these false allegations.”

The Guardian is defending the claim on the basis of truth and public interest.

It said in its statement: “Our reporting on Noel Clarke in 2021 was based on the accounts of 20 brave women. After we published our first article, more women came forward.

“At trial, 32 witnesses are set to testify against Mr Clarke under oath. We look forward to a judge hearing the evidence.”

The trial will only focus on liability – not the amount of damages to be paid if Clarke is successful.

The actor tried and failed to get the case struck out in January, with his legal team saying it had “overwhelming evidence” of “perversion of the course of justice”.

His lawyers told the High Court three of the journalists involved in the articles had “deliberately and permanently” deleted messages, which meant he could not get a fair trial.

Lawyers for GNM told the court there was “no adequate evidential basis” for Clarke’s application for a strike out and said it sought “to smear Guardian journalists and editors without any proper justification”.

The trial, which will be presided over by judge Mrs Justice Steyn, is expected to last between four and six weeks.

What has happened since the articles were published?

A month before the articles about him were published in April 2021, Clarke received BAFTA’s outstanding contribution to British cinema award.

However, once the allegations against him emerged, he was suspended by the organisation and the prize rescinded.

His management and production company 42M&P told Sky News they were no longer representing him and Sky cancelled its TV show Bulletproof, starring Clarke and Top Boy actor Ashley Walters as the lead roles.

ITV also decided to pull the finale of another of his dramas, Viewpoint, following the Guardian articles.

The Met Police looked into the allegations against Clarke for any potential criminal wrongdoing, but in March 2022 announced they “did not meet the threshold for criminal investigation”.

Clarke filed the libel claim the following month and has attended several of the preliminary hearings in person.

He says he has faced a “trial by media” – and that the ordeal has left him suicidal and in need of professional help.

‘Rising star’

Clarke made his TV debut in a revived version of Auf Wiedersehen Pet in 2002.

Soon after he played Mickey Smith in Dr Who and Kwame in the six-part Channel 4 series Metrosexuality.

He wrote and starred in the film trilogy Kidulthood, Adulthood, and Brotherhood, which were based in west London, where he grew up, and explored the lives of a group of teenagers given time off school after a bullied classmate takes their own life.

It was a box office success and eventually saw Clarke given BAFTA’s rising star prize in 2009.

Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.