The Big Picture

Actress and executive producer Riley Keough enjoys the character development in limited series for TV, like ‘Under the Bridge.’
At first hesitant about exploring a true crime story, Keough became excited to explore the gray areas.
Playing Rebecca Godfrey was a journey to find humanity within herself and others, with Keough gaining insight from working with co-star Lily Gladstone.

[Editor’s note: The following contains some spoilers for Under the Bridge.]

In the Hulu series Under the Bridge, based on the book about the 1997 true crime case of 14-year-old Reena Virk, local police officer Cam Bentland (Lily Gladstone) finds her path crossing with Rebecca Godfrey (Riley Keough), a novelist who has returned to her hometown and finds herself drawn into the world of the teen suspects. As shocking discoveries about how Reena went to a party that she never returned home from continue to reveal themselves, Cam and Rebecca reconnect, revealing that past wounds aren’t entirely healed in the present.

After doing the limited series Daisy Jones & The Six, Keough realized that she really enjoys the time she can spend developing a character with more hours than you get in a film. Although she was hesitant about taking on a true crime story initially, she eventually became excited by exploring the more gray area, signing on as an executive producer and working alongside Gladstone. Getting to explore her part in that dynamic, as well as taking the internal emotional journey of Rebecca Godfrey, was a search for humanity within herself and other people.

During this one-on-one interview with Collider, Keough talked about how Under the Bridge came her way, what ultimately made her want to sign on, why this was the perfect environment to learn how to produce a TV series with her production company, what guides her in her career choices, the biggest challenges in understanding Rebecca Godfrey, and what she learned from working with Gladstone. She also discussed why she wanted to work with Noah Baumbach on his upcoming Netflix film, and how close she might be to directing again.

Under the Bridge (2024) Reena Virk, a fourteen-year-old girl went to join friends at a party and never returned home. Seven teenage girls and a boy were accused of the savage murder.Release Date April 17, 2024 Cast Riley Keough , Izzy G , Chloe Guidry , Ezra Faroque Khan , Archie Panjabi , Vritika Gupta , Javon Walton , Aiyana Goodfellow , Lily Gladstone , Anoop Desai Seasons 1 Streaming Service(s) Hulu Showrunner Samir Mehta

Riley Keough Was Excited to Explore the Gray Area Within the True Crime Genre
Image via Hulu

Collider: I want to start with the origin of this project since you were an executive producer on it as well. When I spoke to you about this back when you were doing press for Daisy Jones & The Six, you said that you have your production company and you thought it would be good to have a TV series under your belt. Had you been looking at other TV series at the same time, or did this one just come your way and it was clear that this was something you connected with and wanted to do?

RILEY KEOUGH: It’s funny, I certainly don’t plan to do loads of limited series, but there are things I really like about doing limited series. I really enjoy the time that I get to spend developing a character. When I do films, I always find that I wish I was able to play that character a little longer, and I find that series is fulfilling in that way for me. I don’t think I was looking. I can’t remember. I was basically approached by Quinn [Shephard] and Samir [Mehta]. They sent me the pilot and they sent me pages on what was gonna happen per episode, like a Bible type of situation. I was a little apprehensive because I’d just done a limited series. I don’t know why that matters, now that I’m saying it out loud. Honestly, I think it was that I’d just worked for a really long time. The thing about limited series is that they are very long and the schedules can be intense. It’s a real commitment, and a movie can be a shorter commitment. So, I was not desperately looking to do a limited series, in that moment, and I also wasn’t totally interested in true crime, particularly.

And then, I talked to Quinn and Samir and we had some really interesting conversations that made me feel excited about the show and about the collaboration that could be had between us all. They seemed very open to collaboration. When there are talent-led production companies, people can assume that you’re just coming on and taking a vanity credit, but we’re a real production company. I think most are now. That’s an old view on talent-led production companies. I hate even calling it a talent-led production company. I definitely don’t lead this company. I think we definitely wanted to say, “Hey, we very much love producing, and we’re writers and we direct. We’re here to collaborate, and not just to say we’re producing it. They were really open to that and that was really exciting for us because it was also our first show. We’d never done a TV show, so it was a perfect environment for us to learn how to produce a series. That was exciting. And the conversations about potential themes of the show and how open they were to exploring the more gray area within true crime was really exciting.

Related The Disturbing True Story Behind Hulu’s Crime Series ‘Under the Bridge’ The series starring Riley Keough and Lily Gladstone is set to premiere April 17.

Do you feel like you’ve always had a good gauge for what creative talent you want to work with? Have you always trusted your instincts in that regard, when it comes to deciding who you want to work with and the projects you want to do, or do you feel like there was a point where you felt that shift? Does that just come with more opportunities?

KEOUGH: It comes with opportunity, for sure. Acting is a really weird career because you never really feel stable. It’s very destabilizing because you never know what’s gonna happen. You don’t know if the movie is gonna be awful. But within that, I’m in a place where I definitely have more choice, and I think when you have more choice, certainly you’re able to put yourself in more situations by choice, so that’s great. I don’t know. I think it’s also age for me. As I’ve gotten older, I really just wanna be doing things that I love and the experience is wonderful. That’s all I care about. I don’t have any other agenda, other than enjoying my time and working with people who I’m inspired by. I have certainly gotten into situations where something isn’t what it seems, or you don’t totally get the full picture. It’s hard because you’re meeting people and hoping that you’re gonna have a certain experience, and it’s not always what you expect it to be. I think that’s just time and experience, as well. Ultimately, for me, I just wanna be inspired. That feels obvious, but it can turn out differently.

That’s why it’s so easy to understand why some actors like to work with the same filmmakers and some filmmakers like to work with the same actors, over and over again.

KEOUGH: I totally get that. There are some people in my life that if I could work with them every day for the rest of my life, I wish I could because I’m so inspired by them. Ultimately, the people who have it figured out are doing that.

Related What Happened to the Real Rebecca Godfrey After ‘Under the Bridge’? She used her investigative journalism skills to bring a nuanced version of a real-life murder to the screen. But where is Godfrey now?

There’s certainly a lot going on with your character throughout the series, but it’s an interesting character because a lot of it is also very internal. She’s on this very emotional journey, but it’s not necessarily something you can express with a bunch of dialogue. What were the biggest challenges in figuring out Rebecca’s grief and how that affected every aspect of her life?

KEOUGH: What was so interesting for me, but also was challenging, as far as making an interesting character and show, was that it was internal. I don’t know if she was totally aware of what she was doing. I don’t think she totally understood her reasoning and why she was inserting herself in this situation. That was really interesting to me. She’s finding herself really drawn to the situation and to these people, and ultimately, she’s trying to find humanity in something that feels scary. I think that ends up being what her drive is, but it’s also within herself. There are things that she relates to it, and in that respect, it is selfish at times. She is putting herself in this situation, which can be representative of extraction filmmaking, where people are just taking from other people’s lives and stories and exploiting them. I was exploring what that drive is and how it was internal for her. It was complicated because it was such an internal journey for her and she is dealing with her own demons, so to speak. Ultimately, it was a search for humanity within herself and other people.

Riley Keough is Grateful for What She Learned Working with ‘Under the Bridge’ Co-Star Lily Gladstone

There’s also something so interesting in watching the relationship between Rebecca and Cam because they are such different people. They have this history with each other, but they’ve also gone off to live very separate lives, so they’re familiar while also being strangers to each other, which is a really interesting dynamic that we haven’t really seen in a TV series before. What did you most enjoy about working with Lily Gladstone on that and what did you learn from working with her?

KEOUGH: You learn so much from working with actors because it’s a totally different experience every time. That’s what makes it so exciting. You’re working with different actors every day and on different projects all the time. You’re never in the same environment, so you’re always on your toes. And with Lily, we’re actually very similar actors, in the sense that we’re just trying to find the honesty and be present. She’s just so able to be present, and I was really grateful for that.

Related ‘Under the Bridge’ Just Went There With Riley Keough and Lily Gladstone Episode 3 of Hulu’s true crime series confirms what was only hinted at before.

Their dynamic also makes the intimate moment they share with each other an interesting one. Cam is out of uniform, and we haven’t really seen her that way. It also gives so much insight into their past, the tension, the chemistry, and all these things that we’ve been watching up until that point. Were there a lot of conversations about how you wanted to handle that moment for them, or is that something that’s easier just to figure out once you’re there and in the moment?

KEOUGH: I hate using generalities because I honestly change my mind every day. It didn’t feel necessary to figure that out. Of course, you need to know the blocking and run through it with camera and stuff. But I like finding moments, in general, as an actor, and that goes for romantic moments or not, on the day, and then building on them. If you overthink it, you can kill it a little bit. That seems to work for me. In the moment, it’s how everyone is feeling. A lot of their scenes are complicated because of the nature of their relationship, not knowing what it was, whether it was friends or more, or what the history was. A lot of our conversations were about the tone of the scenes. That was something we would talk about a lot before going into them. What are we feeling here? There’s a lot of baggage because of the long-term relationship when you’re going into those scenes. They would play differently, as opposed to somebody you’re just meeting in a bar and going into a bathroom with, or whatever. There’s a lot of history between them, so we would discuss what Cam is feeling and what Rebecca is feeling in all moments because every moment with them is complicated.

You’ve also signed on to do a Noah Baumbach movie, and that’s a filmmaker for which the script seems so important. What made you want to do that? Is that somebody whose work you’ve been a fan of?

KEOUGH: I certainly have been a fan of his work. You don’t often get incredible writing, and when you get to perform it, as an actor, it’s such a gift. I’m very grateful for that experience.

Is that a character that feels very different from what we’ve seen you do?

KEOUGH: I’m assuming I’m not allowed to say anything at all, so I’m gonna go off that. I’ll say that it was a wonderful experience, and I am very grateful for it. Obviously, like the rest of his films, it will be a wonderful film.

When Will Riley Keough Direct Her Next Film?
Image via Hulu

Are you hoping to direct again soon? Is that something that’s on the horizon, or is it a little further off in the horizon for you?

KEOUGH: It’s on the horizon. It’s like 50 pages into the horizon. Myself and Gina [Gammell] will definitely direct again. I’m having a moment with writing where I hate my writing and I hate this movie. I know that’s just the process, so I’m allowing myself to take a minute. But the short answer is, yes, I am hoping to direct again.

Under the Bridge is available to stream on Hulu. Check out the trailer:

Watch on Hulu