Riley Keough has admitted being Elvis Presley’s grandaughter has made her career easier as she opened up about her choice to go into the showbiz industry.

The actress, 35, acknowledged how nepotism has helped her in a candid chat with Elle magazine.

Yet she revealed that while it has aided her, her mother Lisa struggled with her idenтιтy of being just ‘Elvis’ daughter’.

Riley explained: ‘I’m sure being Elvis’s granddaughter has made it easier for me to get an agent, to have meetings and all this stuff, when I started out.

‘I know there’s so much nepo-baby stuff at the moment [and] I certainly acknowledge that aspect of the privilege of coming where I come from.

Elvis’ granddaughter Riley Keough has admitted nepo babies who don’t know their ‘privilege’ are ‘idiots’ as she confessed fame contributed to her late mother Lisa’s downfall

The actress, 35, admitted being Elvis Presley’s grandaughter has made her career easier as she opened up about her choice to go into the showbiz industry in a candid chat with Elle

‘I’m not an idiot! I’m aware of privilege in an acute way.’

However, while Riley is aware of how nepotism has helped her career, she revealed having a famous name can have the complete opposite effect.

Lisa died on January 12 2023 after suffering a cardiac arrest in her Calabasas home.

She pᴀssed away later that day at just 54, with an autopsy revealing her death was caused by a ‘small bowel obstruction’ from a recent bariatric surgery.

Discussing her mother’s struggles she explained: ‘I think that, in her case, which isn’t always the case, being the daughter of someone that famous and iconic made it really hard for her to try and have a career, but also to be a person away from that at all.

‘Her entire idenтιтy was being Elvis’s daughter. The most heartbreaking thing for me, growing up, was to watch this woman who I could tell so deeply wanted love and friendship, really struggle to find it.

‘I think that’s really common at that level of fame. Being Elvis’s daughter is different to being other people’s daughters, I think.

‘Not to say she didn’t have a few great friendships and relationships in her life – it just was always a struggle.’

Riley, who soared to fame after her starring role in the Amazon Prime adaptation of Daisy Jones & The Six, also admitted her parents attempted to talk her out of performing as a career.

She said: ‘I know there’s so much nepo-baby stuff at the moment [and] I certainly acknowledge that aspect of the privilege of coming where I come from…. I’m not an idiot’

However, while Riley is aware of how nepotism has helped her career, she revealed having a famous name can have the complete opposite effect

Riley explained while her grandfather’s name has aided her, her mother Lisa struggled with her idenтιтy of being just ‘Elvis’ daughter’ (Riley and Lisa pictured in 2010)

Discussing her mother’s struggles she explained: ‘I think that, in her case, which isn’t always the case, being the daughter of someone that famous and iconic made it really hard for her to try and have a career, but also to be a person away from that at all’

Riley, who soared to fame after her starring role in the Amazon Prime adaptation of Daisy Jones & The Six, also admitted her parents attempted to talk her out of performing as a career

She said: ‘I felt like I was getting into something that could go terribly wrong.

‘[My mom] would say to me: “If you’re going to do this, you have to be so good at what you do, or else nobody’s going to take you seriously, you’re not going to get any jobs and it’s going to be embarrᴀssing.

‘”You don’t want to be an embarrᴀssing celebrity kid!” She ingrained that into me and my brother so deeply.’

While Elvis’ fame tainted Lisa’s life, Riley admitted that she didn’t feel her upbringing was tainted by fame.

She explained: ‘[What’s striking is] how wonderfully colourful my upbringing was. It wasn’t about the fame or anything.

‘I know that’s unusual, but it was more so that there was a lot of joy. Things were very big and fun, all the time. So I kinda look back and – wow! – I can’t believe all that happened.

‘We travelled to so many places and did so many things. And now my life is quite simple. I can’t believe that was real, because we did so much.’

Lisa died on January 12 2023 after suffering a cardiac arrest in her Calabasas home at just 54, with an autopsy revealing she died from a ‘small bowel obstruction’ from a bariatric surgery

While Elvis’ fame tainted Lisa’s life, Riley admitted that she didn’t feel her upbringing was tainted by fame

She explained: ‘[What’s striking is] how wonderfully colourful my upbringing was. It wasn’t about the fame or anything. ‘I know that’s unusual, but it was more so that there was a lot of joy’

Riley has also recently finished writing her mother’s memoir which she had been working on at the time of her death in January of 2023.

Speaking about wanting to complete the book, тιтled From Here to the Great Unknown, she said: ‘[I went] into this mode of needing to handle everything that’s not completed, and the book was part of that.

‘There are all these things that are left undone when a person leaves, when they pᴀss away. How could I not finish it for her? It felt more like a duty, I suppose. I just felt like something drove me to complete it for her.’

‘My mom was – no pun intended – a very open book! But I think what was really the most interesting to me were the details in these stories that I knew, the broad strokes.

‘To have all the details, how she felt in these moments, was really special. I love stories and storytelling, so I love the nuance. I think that was the coolest thing’.