‘Daisy Jones and the Six’: How Bruce Springsteen ‘Heavily Influenced’ 1 Actor’s Performance

Daisy Jones & The Six might be about the meteoric rise and fall of a fictional ‘70s rock band, but its musical influences are anything but imaginary. Its author, Taylor Jenkins Reid, was inspired by the lore and chemistry surrounding Fleetwood Mac’s Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks.

Now, in the Amazon Prime limited series of the same name, Daisy Jones weaves the tale of Jones (Riley Keough) and frontman Billy Dunne (Sam Claflin), and how their relationship shapes the dynamics within their band. 

Though Daisy Jones epitomizes 1970s culture and music in an all-encompassing, authentic way, some of its marquee actors weren’t fluent in rock ‘n’ roll when they first signed on to their roles. During almost two years of preparation for the show, however, they borrowed inspiration from some of the greatest names in music. In doing so, they pulled off a TV hit and music album that feels genuine to its intended era. 

Sam Claflin was a musical novice when he auditioned for ‘Daisy Jones & The Six’ 

Some of the show’s cast members come from a long line of musical artists. Keough, for example, is Elvis Presley’s granddaughter and daughter of the late Lisa Marie Presley. Others, like Claflin, picked up most of their musical knowledge while preparing for this project.

In fact, Claflin embarrassingly mixed up the artist for “Come Together” during his audition to play Dunne. Instead of knowing it was a classic Beatles hit, the actor mistakenly thought Michael Jackson performed it. “So that was where I was starting this journey,” Claflin sheepishly told a Today host. 

Claflin had some musical theater experience: Think Jesus Christ Superstar and Les Misérables at what he called a “high school kind of standard.” However, the actor, better known for projects like The Hunger Games, Me Before You, and Peaky Blinders didn’t have much professional music experience. “This was the first time I’d ever been in a recording studio, the first time I’d ever sung rock music,” he said. 

Despite Claflin’s faux pas in his audition, he landed the part of Dunne and quickly immersed himself in the role.

The cast initially had just four months to learn their instruments (guitar for Claflin), record their music for the series’ accompanying album Aurora, and prepare to take on their characters. However, Claflin says they were “blessed” by the pandemic-caused delays. “[It] meant we could all grow our own hair and familiarize ourselves not only with the music, but with each other. I think in a way that benefited the end product,” he said. 

Claflin said Springsteen was a frequent musical influence while filming ‘Daisy Jones’

In a Fleetwood Mac comparison, Dunne would be most akin to Buckingham. Claflin has found inspiration in Fleetwood Mac’s music.

But he said for his role in Daisy Jones, he sought to emulate none other than The Boss himself, Bruce Springsteen. It brought in the blue-collar roots of Dunne’s character, who grows up playing music in his Pittsburgh garage with his brother. Born to Run, Springsteen’s third studio album, was on repeat, along with selections from The Doors. 

Claflin saw pieces of his character starting out more like The Doors’ Jim Morrison, then shifting into more of a Springsteen persona. “He starts off Jim, thinking he’s really artistic, then he realizes, ‘No, I’m just going to sell out stadiums.’ He becomes someone who doesn’t take themselves quite so seriously,” Claflin told Amazon News. 

It’s unclear if Daisy Jones will get a second season — it was designed to be a 10-episode limited series. But if season 2 happens, Claflin told Variety that he’d love to see Springsteen get a cameo. “I’m so heavily influenced on Billy by Bruce, I would need a bit of Bruce,” he said. 

Claflin also knows ‘every lyric’ to Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Rumours’ 

On top of Springsteen and other rock band influences, Claflin naturally felt inspired by Fleetwood Mac’s discography while filming Daisy Jones. It was a key inspiration for the book and show. The cast was instructed to read Making Rumours. This gave insight into the band’s songwriting process for their famed 1977 album. 

Beyond all of that, Fleetwood Mac was constantly in the top four rotation on his parent’s tape deck, Claflin told Amazon. Moreover, the band’s music is perfect for whatever mood the actor is in.

“Genuinely, I think Fleetwood Mac, no matter my mood, I go back to them because I know every lyric, and especially with Rumours, every song has a different mood, a different feeling. It covers all the bases.” 

Episodes one through six of Daisy Jones & The Six are available to stream now on Amazon Prime. Episodes seven and eight were released Friday, March 17. The final episodes nine and 10 will be released Friday, March 24.