How faithful is the Prime Video series to the bestselling novel it's based on?
Warning! The following contains spoilers for Daisy Jones & The Six.
First a bestselling book, Daisy Jones & The Six is now the TV show sweeping the world off of its feet. Though many may have just met Daisy, Billy, and the rest of the fictional band, the beloved characters have long anchored the fan base for Taylor Jenkins Reid's 2019 novel of the same name.
The book -- and now the show -- chronicles the rise and fall of the titular rock band in a Fleetwood Mac-esque story starring Riley Keough as Daisy Jones, with Sam Claflin as Billy Dunne, Suki Waterhouse as Karen Sirko, Will Harrison as Graham Dunne, Josh Whitehouse as Eddie Roundtree and Sebastian Chacon as Warren Rojas. Camila Morrone features as Billy's wife, Camila, Tom Wright plays record producer Teddy Price and Nabiyah Be stars and Daisy's friend, Simone Jackson.
As with any adaptation, the creative team made adjustments from page to screen, but none that Reid was mad about.
"Things have to change," Reid told ET at the Daisy Jones premiere event in February. "You have to change stuff, it's about making the absolute best TV show that you can make and they did that."
Here's ET's guide on the biggest book-to-television differences for Daisy Jones & The Six.
EPISODES 1, 2, and 3
Camila is not a photographer in the book
In the show, Camila works as the band's photographer, recording the group's rehearsals and offering a plot device to explain the "found footage" scenes of the show's documentary format. In the novel, she is not involved with the band beyond being the inspiration for much of Billy's songwriting. She instead takes care of her and Billy's children (in the book they have three) but still lives with the band in the early years of their development.
Camila also takes longer to come to California in the novel. In the show, she hesitates about the move at first but eventually joins the band as they pack the van to leave. Billy leaves for Los Angeles without Camila in the book, later calling her and convincing her to come join them.
Pete Loving doesn't appear in the show (and no one dies in Vietnam)
The band's original members are slightly different in Reid's novel. In Pennsylvania, Chuck Williams and Pete Loving are both members of the group before Chuck is drafted and dies in Vietnam. Pete -- who is also Eddie's brother -- remains a member of the band in the book, but never says much throughout the story.
In the show, Chuck and Eddie are combined into one character, Chuck Loving (Jack Romano). He isn't drafted, but quits to pursue dentistry before the group heads west. Eddie doesn't have a brother in the show, either.
Daisy Jones doesn't have a different name in the book
In the show, Daisy's birth name is Margaret. Early in the first episode, she changes it to Daisy as an act of rebellion. This never happens in the novel.
Camila and Billy's first meeting is different in the show
Camila and Billy meet at a hotel bar in the book, where she is a waitress and he has just finished playing at a wedding in the same hotel. In the show, the two bump into one another at the local laundromat, and Camila pretends to not know who he is.
Karen is British (and not a tomboy) in the show
There's no mention of Karen speaking with an accent in the book, but Waterhouse speaks with her English accent in the show.
The onscreen character is also more feminine, a departure from Reid's description of her as a tomboy who wears almost exclusively jeans and turtlenecks.
Warren's last name is different in the book
There is no mention of the band's drummer, Warren, being Latino in the book, and his last name is Rhodes. When Chaco was cast, the team changed the character's last name to Rojas.
Simone's sexuality is different in the show
Simone's character is much more developed in the show. Her sexuality is never explicitly defined in the book, given that her storyline mainly exists to further Daisy's. In the show, the character is specifically queer and she moves to New York to pursue a love interest, Bernie (Ayesha Harris).
Teddy looks different in the book (and discovers Billy in a different way)
In the book, Billy describes Teddy as a "real tall, fat guy in a suit" with a "real thick upper-crust British accent." Warren says he's "ugly as as sin" with a "face only a mother could love" and Karen adds, "that's the glory of being a man. An ugly face isn't the end of you."
None of this matches with actor Tom Wright, who is not tall, ugly, or fat. He's also not British.
In the book, Teddy discovers Billy and the band after the group's manager, Rod, brings him to a performance. In the show, Billy chases Teddy down in a local grocery store and convinces him to listen to their set. Rod does appear in the show, but is far less helpful and blows them off almost immediately.
Teddy sends Billy to rehab (not Camila) in the show
In the book, it's Camila who gives Billy an ultimatum, albeit through Teddy. After giving birth to their daughter, she asks Teddy to tell Billy that "he can start to be a father this second or he's going to rehab. Now."
This scene doesn't happen in the show. Instead, Teddy takes Billy to rehab without revealing whether he's spoken to Camila.
Billy doesn't try to quit the band in the book
In the show, Billy returns from rehab and tells the group he is quitting the band, only reversing his decision when Camila tells him to stay. This never happens in the book.
Music from The Six and Daisy Jones happen on a different timeline in the show
In the show, The Six haven't found much success before Teddy introduces them to Daisy -- their only tour was cut short by Billy's rehab.
In the book, the group has released two albums by the time Daisy comes along: 1974's The Six and 1976's SevenEightNine. In the latter, Daisy is featured on "Honeycomb" and joins them on their second tour as a guest.
Daisy is also a more established musician in the book, and she has already recorded her own album before meeting The Six. In the show, she doesn't appear to have ever recorded when she meets Billy for the "Honeycomb" studio session.
The show stays faithful to the book's storyline in the way that Billy and Daisy disagree over the lyrics for "Honeycomb," though the actual words -- like all the rest of the songs -- are altered. The song is also renamed "Look at Us Now (Honeycomb)."
EPISODES 4, 5, and 6
Daisy and Billy never kiss in the book
Though they skirt around feelings for each other throughout the novel, Daisy and Billy never say they kissed.
Onscreen, Billy kisses her in the parking lot outside the band's recording studio in Episode 6. He later implies he only did so to convince Daisy to record the final song for their album, but the truth of his intentions seem far more confused. Though many were surprised, the departure is still in keeping with the book's style as an unreliable narrator.
"It should also be noted that, on matters both big and small, sometimes accounts of the same event differ," Reid writes in the book's prologue. "The truth often lies, unclaimed, in the middle."
Eddie and Camila's relationship is different in the show
Eddie resents Billy in the book, but never for an overly specific reason. Onscreen, his character harbors very obvious feelings for Camila. Billy's struggle with addiction and his worryingly close relationship with Daisy only fuels Eddie's unspoken conviction that Camila doesn't deserve him.
In Episode 6, Camila and Eddie spend a night out at a bar together after Camila leaves the house amid resentment toward Billy and Daisy's relationship. They never explicitly hook up onscreen, but Camila later tells the camera, "There were just so many secrets. I think I just needed one of my own."
The implied action is a large departure from the book, but its undefined nature is also in keeping with the book's unreliable narration. Regardless, the addition surprised many fans and is one of the show's most liberal changes.
Camila doesn't take the Aurora album photo in the book
In the novel, the iconic photo of Daisy and Billy used on the cover of Aurora is taken by professional photographer Freddie Mendoza. Since Camila is not a photographer in the book, she's nowhere to be found throughout the entire scene.
In the show, she joins the band for their photo shoot and snaps a photo of Billy and Daisy fighting on the sidelines. Later, when Billy is reviewing the photos, the official shots are all bad, and Camila shows him hers. The change helps develop the tension between Billy and Camila surrounding Daisy's influence on their lives.
"We used to fight like that," she tells him.
EPISODES 7 and 8
Nicky is portrayed differently in the book
In the show and book, Daisy meets her husband, Nicky, while on a whirlwind trip to Greece. The details beyond this, however, are different.
Nicky in the book is an Italian prince, and the couple jets to Italy together before getting married in Rome. Simone finds them on her own accord, after they've been married, by tracking Daisy's credit card information.
In the show, Simone meets Daisy in Greece after receiving a telegram asking her to come help. Simone brings her girlfriend Bertie, who is not in the book. Nicky is Irish (played by Gavin Drea) rather than Italian, though still a prince. He marries Daisy in Greece with Simone in attendance before returning to Los Angeles -- they never go to Italy.
The show also differs in Nicky's attitudes toward Daisy's career. In the book, he takes more convincing to come to Los Angeles with her. In the show, he joins her on tour with enthusiasm, only later growing more resentful of her. Episode 8 ends with Nicky's shameful departure from his and Daisy's hotel room while Daisy lays passed out on the floor after a night full of drugs.
EPISODES 9 and 10
Teddy's death is different in the book
Teddy dies suddenly in the book -- he suffers a heart attack after one of the group's shows. His death later contributes to the band's demise when Billy says he "didn't know how to write a good album without Teddy."
In the series, Teddy survives the initial heart attack, but Billy later reveals that Teddy died of a second attack in 1983.
Billy's relapse is different in the show
In the novel, Billy heads to a bar after what becomes the group's final show. He orders a drink and takes one sip before leaving the bar and recommitting to his sobriety. In the show, Billy first takes a drink out of a flask before the show, and later tries to share more drugs and alcohol with Daisy after they've finished performing.
Daisy and Billy kiss again in the show
Daisy and Billy never explicitly kiss in the book, though their unreliable narration leaves much for interpretation. In the show, they kiss backstage after their tumultuous final performance. When Billy tells Daisy that Camila is leaving him, she withdraws and heads back onstage, eventually convincing Billy to go after Camila.
Daisy leaves the band differently in the book
In the show, Daisy leaves the band for a rehab program in Minnesota after seeing Billy relapse. Her exit is slightly different in the book -- Camila finds her in a hotel room after the band's show and tells her, "If you're waiting around, hoping that something’s going to crack, I just…I have to tell you that it's not gonna be me. And I can't let it be Billy. Which means it's gonna be you."
Daisy later says "I left the band because Camila Dunne asked me to."
Daisy and Billy's reunion is confirmed in the show
Reid's novel ends with an email from Camila to her daughters, asking them to reunite Billy and Daisy after her death because the two of them "still owe me a song." Any reunion beyond this is never confirmed, but the show depicts their meeting more explicitly -- Billy goes to see Daisy at her house, and fans see a final shot of Daisy smiling when she opens the door.
The cliffhanger ending has many fans wondering about a season 2. Hear what the cast told ET about the idea here.
FINAL NOVEL COMPARISONS
Did the band win the GRAMMY?
In the book, The Six wins Record Of The Year shortly after Daisy and Nicky's divorce. Daisy gives the acceptance speech, instead of Billy, and sources speak about the event as a major milestone for the group's history. This moment is absent from the show.
Where is Mick Riva?
Daisy Jones & The Six is one of four Reid novels that take place in the same Los Angeles universe. Though they are not sequels to one another, Reid overlaps side characters across her books, weaving a web of connected Hollywood elite that fill her world with drama. One character, Mick Riva, makes an appearance -- both small and large -- in every novel.
Riva did not appear in the Prime Video adaptation of Daisy Jones. Fans will have to wait and see if he appears in any of the remaining Reid novel adaptations currently in the works. See ET's full guide of Reid's upcoming projects here.
Daisy Jones & The Six is now streaming all ten episodes on Prime Video.
RELATED CONTENT:
