‘Daisy Jones & the Six’ star Will Harrison in his big scene with Suki Waterhouse and those tour rumors

[Warning: This story contains spoilers for Daisy Jones & The Six.]

Since the premiere on March 3 Daisy Jones and the Six has made headlines for many reasons – the anticipation of fans to see one of the best-selling books (a million and up) of recent years finally hit the small screen, the staggering amount of original music performed by the cast, Riley Keough’s uncanny resemblance to her late mother. For star Will Harrison, who plays Six member Graham Dunne, the Prime Video show is most notable for being one of his very first auditions from his BFA program.

“I actually heard about it because my boyfriend worked for the casting agency and thought I could be good for the show,” says Harrison. The Hollywood Reporter. “They were looking for Billy Dunne worldwide, so I was about 20 years old and auditioned for the part that went to Sam Claflin, which never worked out.”

The producers – Daisy Jones streams on Amazon Prime, but was curated by Lauren Neustadter and her team at Hello Sunshine. She eventually dropped the project, but Harrison continued to contact his managers, intrigued by the prospect of “that rock and roll show.” Auditions started again shortly before the pandemic hit, and he went through nearly a dozen rounds of callbacks before landing the part of Graham, Claflin’s younger brother and an on-and-off love interest for the band member played by Suki Waterhouse.

Before the series finale, Harrison spoke to THR from the streets of New York City – walking to Lincoln Center where his play The Coastal Starlight was in previews – about the job of a lifetime.

When did you know Graham would be the right person for you? Or was that matchup a surprise?

At one point I auditioned for the part of Eddie, which went to Josh Whitehouse, and I got a call back on Zoom with the team and Riley Keough was in the room with [producer] Lauren Neustadter and after I finished Riley turned to her and said “he’s not Eddie, he’s Graham.” I think I may have rolled my eyes a little when they came back to ask me to audition for yet another part, but as soon as I read the sides of Graham’s part I knew it was a good idea – that if that was me I’d be in the band that was the guy I was supposed to play.

Remember what scene it was that convinced you that Graham was the right part?

It was when Karen broke the news to Graham that she had an abortion – it is one of the highlights of their storyline in the book and in the series. I remember working on that scene so much with a friend, who I was shooting with, and she pushed me to do another take and we got a really good one. We were both late for places we needed to be, but it was worth it, and it was surreal to finally shoot that scene once I got on set.

Were you nervous about filming that scene?

I remember reading it in the book and being really moved by it, hoping it would make it into the script. Something about being in the elevator for the conversation, the proximity of the space, was really interesting and challenging for me. I was looking forward to it; we were filming in New Orleans and quite late in the shoot, so it felt like it was a way for me and Suki’s storyline to finally get going.

What kind of conversations did you have around the tone you were trying to hit with that scene? How to convey Graham’s emotions without making Karen’s abortion about him…

It’s such a nuanced piece of stage writing in that way. As an outsider just reading the script, I feel incredibly proud of Karen’s character and happy for her for taking the initiative to do what she needs to do to live her life the way she wants to live it. As the actor who plays Graham, the character is devastated and so I had to take that line. I just focused on how Graham feels about it, and trust that as we write, and especially Suki who plays the character, the right things will come out and we’ll find the balance.

So you find out you got this part on a huge TV show, actually right after school, but then you have to wait a year and a half to actually film it; have you ever been tempted to jump ship?

It was impossible that I would find a bigger project. There were talks from the studio, of course, to make sure we could all stay on board, but for me it was a no-brainer. And it was a light at the end of the tunnel for me. I knew then that when everyone could go back to work after or during the pandemic, I would have a job, which was really lucky. And that extra time allowed us to really learn the music. We had months to sit in our homes and practice. I don’t think the show would have been what it is without that extra practice. I lived with a good friend from college for a while, so he definitely got a taste of me playing the guitar parts over and over again. I played guitar growing up, but learning the music written by Blake Mills was a real challenge because he’s such a nuanced guitarist.

What do you remember from the first time you and the other actors played together?

Well, we all showed up at different times for what we called band camp, and there was a moment after Josh and I were sort of locked in our own rooms learning the parts and he just walked into my rehearsal room and plugged in his bass. in, turned up his amp from the other room and we just started playing together. It was the first time I was like wow, maybe we can do this. It also helped that we filmed pretty chronologically, so we went through the rise of the band as a group — one of the first times we filmed was when the Dunne Brothers played at a college party in Pittsburgh. Then the clubs got bigger so it was a natural progression and crushed any nerves I might have had by the time we got to that stadium scene. I think it’s really surreal to listen to the album now that it’s out. I no longer have to browse through a Dropbox folder to find our songs, I can just go on Apple Music.

Would you ever go on tour or play a live show?

Oh god, that sounds very frightening. When we filmed, that audience was paid to watch and enjoy us. So if people have to pay to do it, the script is definitely flipped a bit. I will say we need some time to get back into the groove, but everyone has the ability to do it and it would be great.

Did you bring any souvenirs from the set?

Oh, my house is full of them Daisy Jones props. My biggest is the Stratocaster guitar that I played all through band camp. In the end we didn’t use it for filming, but I still have it and it’s one of my most precious possessions. There were also a few leather jackets I wore towards the end of the show that I would have loved to take home. It was a funny journey with the costumes because we started out as these dorky kids in Pittsburgh, but then you looked through the rack and you saw these amazing outfits that were waiting for them when they became rock stars later in the later episodes. They unfortunately have to hold all the clothes, but there was a great vintage Gucci leather jacket that I might just have to email and ask about.

There are a lot of eyeballs on this show and a lot of fans on the book with high hopes for the adaptation; does it create pressure or does it feel comforting to have a built-in audience?

Well, I think it’s definitely a tough thing for our writers and directors because they had the challenge of adapting something that people love and making it new. There are just things you need to change to make it work for the screen. As for playing Graham, there’s a little extra pressure around playing a character who’s already lived in people’s imaginations. But I had to put all the nerves aside and trust our casting department, who I think did a great job choosing all these characters. And I think other people will feel the same way.

The interview has been edited for length and clarity.