Dakota Johnson Shares Rare Insight Into Her Bond With Riley Keough

Dakota Johnson reflected on her friendship with Riley Keough, including countless sleepovers, starting a band and dyeing their hair blonde after meeting as teens at an In-N-Out parking lot.

By Alexandra Bellusci Aug 09, 2023 1:40 AMTags
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Dakota Johnson is talking the high note that is her friendship with Riley Keough.

The Persuasion actress gave insight into her decades-long friendship with the Daisy Jones & the Six star after the two met at an In-N-Out parking lot at age 16. 

"It was like finding a soulmate," Dakota told Vanity Fair in an interview published Aug. 8. "When I met her, I felt this thing that is so impossible to articulate, growing up in a famous family."

As the daughter of Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith, Dakota remembered feeling an immediate sense of "solidarity" and "understanding" with Riley, whose parents are the late Lisa Marie Presley and Danny Keough.

"We would just smoke cigarettes with our moms," the 50 Shades of Grey star continued. "And they'd call each other and be like, ‘I guess she's going to stay with you for the next four days. Call me if she needs a ride.' I'd go to Riley's and then leave a week later. I don't know if that's normal, but, yeah, just running around LA, sharing clothes, smelling like Nag Champa. Most of it involved music festivals and dating musicians, of course."

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Giving a glimpse into their younger years, Dakota recalled, "When we were 19, we started a joke band called Folky Porn. Riley and I both had blond hair. We were hiding out in New York after breakups. We would do three-part harmonies with my brother, Alexander, on Hank Williams songs and John Prine songs, and we'd film them on Photo Booth. Thousands and thousands of takes."

And art eventually imitated life, with Riley starring as the singer of a rock band in Daisy Jones & the Six.

"Oh my goodness, Dakota did discover me," the 34-year-old told the outlet. "I've been lying to the world! I was in a band!"

Amy Sussman/Getty Images

And when asked whether she would rather go on tour with The Six or Folky Porn, Riley knew where her alliance stands after all these years.

"Don't ask me those kinds of questions," she joked. "It's very controversial—but I would rather go on tour with Folky Porn."

But that's not to say Riley isn't a fan of The Six. After all, her performance landed her an Emmy nomination in the Outstanding Lead Actress In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie category. 

And though Riley recently told E! News that she's "really grateful" for the nod, the best part of the experience was sharing the screen with real-life husband Ben Smith-Petersen, with whom she a hilariously intimate scene.

"In my eyes he's the real Emmy winner," gushed Riley, who recently welcomed a baby girl named Tupelo with Ben. "It's super special, it's not every day you get to work with your husband, it was a very fun experience."