Suki Waterhouse has had a whirlwind year.
The singer-actor-model has had a baby, released her second album, opened for Taylor Swift in London and performed at Coachella — all just in 2024.
After announcing the birth of her child with her partner Robert Pattinson on Instagram in April, Waterhouse headed to the desert to play her Coachella set later that same month.
And just a few months later, she opened for Taylor Swift at Wembley Stadium in London on Aug. 17, all before releasing her second record, “Memoir of a Sparklemuffin,” on Sept. 13.
Since then, the 32-year-old has embarked on the “Sparklemuffin Tour” across the U.S. and Canada, which is set to wrap on Dec. 21 in Atlanta.
In the midst of it all, Waterhouse stopped by TODAY the day before her album was released. She opened up about what the past few busy months in her life have been like — especially while raising her daughter.
“It is a lot,” she said with a grin. “It’s just that love — just completely and utterly besotted. I didn’t know that it would be this good.”
After her TODAY segment, the “Daisy Jones & The Six” actor ran up the stairs of Studio 1A to answer eight questions before 8 a.m. as part of our “8 Before 8” video series. Watch the video above — or keep reading for Waterhouse’s answers on everything from parenting to making music to if she prefers “Harry Potter” or “Twilight.”
What is a sparklemuffin, and what does it mean to you?
A sparklemuffin is a rare Australian spider that I discovered on a late night Google scroll, and I decided that I wanted to make that the name of my album, “Memoir of a Sparklemuffin.”
He’s ridiculously wildly colored. He does this very like, razzle dazzle dance, and he’s kind of self destructive, and he also might get eaten by his partner if he doesn’t dance appropriately.
So yeah, I’m a big David Attenborough fan, and I wanted to have this very cute, unknown spider be part of my album metamorphose, and each song kind of connects. Each group of song connects to the metamorphose of the sparklemuffin, and in tandem, me.
This sounds insane. My album title is a little bit insane, but we love the sparklemuffin.
What song on your album do you relate to the most right now?
I feel like I probably relate to “Big Love” right now the most. It’s this big, kind of explosive song about, a search for love, or feeling this like huge, sort of like, biblical love.
I think, you know, just being with my daughter in the last six months, I really feel kind of like, heart explosion. So I would say “Big Love.”
How will having your daughter on tour change life on the road?
I think it would just make it more fun, actually. There’s so many hours before you get on stage of walking around, being in a different city — doing that with her will be amazing.
And I’ve just been given these little headphones too by you guys, so now she’s gonna have her ears protected as well.
What’s been your favorite part of parenting with Robert Pattinson?
Favorite moments of parenting… ah, I think just like getting the baby. We have like, a routine of putting her in the swimming pool and jumping in and out of the pool.
That’s just always the most fun, like, end of the day, 5 p.m., we all get in the pool and be silly. It’s amazing.
How did you find out you were opening for Taylor Swift in London?
The moment I found out, I got a phone call suddenly, and I just kind of couldn’t believe it. I think I’d just done Coachella and I’d only just had the baby, like two months before.
I think it was just this whirlwind and going, “Oh my goodness.” In a couple of months, I’m going to be in London doing the biggest thing that I’ve ever done, and I’ve just had a baby, which has made me feel so full of love.
So I just felt like I was in this unbelievable time where all these magical dreams that I’ve always had were coming true.
What was your favorite moment from that night?
My favorite thing from that night was just seeing all my school friends, all my family, all gathered in one place. And, you know, just being part of this history-making tour.
I think the memory I have the most is those sliding doors just opening and someone saying, “Just go,” and coming up and seeing like, a stadium that can take 92,000 people — that was something that I’ve never seen before.
How did your role in “Daisy Jones & The Six” affect your music career?
I think playing Karen in “Daisy Jones & The Six” had such an impact on me. I was playing a character that was so confident, that was part of a band, part of a unit.
I knew I was going to be hanging out at Sound City Studios all the time. So I think acting in that, and putting myself in her shoes, and she’s so brave and strong, you take on the character sometimes. I think it helped me get over a lot of my own insecurities, and made me kind of feel like I could go and make my record.
Can you explain the meaning behind “Model, Actress, Whatever”?
That song was really just about kind of poking at myself. Those labels that you get boxed in when you’re younger and how you have to, like, earn your stripes in doing new things.
I think I’ve been someone that’s done a couple of different things, and it was like a great chance to just kind of like, make fun of myself, and take labels and empower myself through them, and be able to giggle about them.
Who are your other sparklemuffin artists?
I feel like Sabrina (Carpenter) is a bit of a sparklemuffin.
Chappell (Roan), she’s like warrior sparklemuffin.
Who else am I loving right now? I love the Charli XCX record. That’s kind of been on my rotation — the “Brat,” the “Short n’ Sweet,” and the “(Rise and Fall of a) Midwest Princess.”
Rapid fire round:
“Harry Potter” or “Twilight”?
I would say “Harry Potter” because, I used to have a song that I would do with my friend about reading “Harry Potter” — I absolutely love “Harry Potter.”
“Daisy Jones”: the book or the TV show?
Oooh, that’s impossible. I’ve got to say the TV show, because that’s like — those are my people. I loved doing that. But we couldn’t have had the show without Taylor Jenkins Reid’s book.
Singing or acting?
I would say singing, but please don’t ruin my chance at getting an acting job.
LA or London?
Oh, that’s another really hard one. I mean, London’s like my hometown. London’s my heart, so I’d say London.
Sneakers or heels?
Sneakers, that’s not even hard. I can barely walk in heels at all. I’m constantly uncomfortable, so I can’t wait to get back into sneakers immediately.