Blending life and cinema: how the cast of ‘Priscilla’ struggled to work with the star
Sofia Coppola’s newest movie, Priscilla, has been met with rapturous critical praise for her sensitive yet revealing take on Priscilla Presley’s story. In contrast to Baz Luhrmann’s 2022 film Elvis, which focused on the heroics of the singer, Coppola’s version is far more critical of the musical icon. But acting out this critique in front of Priscilla Presley herself proved to be a difficult task for the two lead actors.
Based on Priscilla’s 1985 memoir Elvis and Me, the film looks back at their relationship from when she met Elvis at only 14 to the breakdown of their marriage. Unlike Luhrmann’s effort, Coppola didn’t shy away from revealing the darker sides of Elvis’ personality or focusing on more worrying details such as the age gap in their relationship.
The film was given Priscilla’s seal of approval as she played an active role in the filmmaking process. It was essential to Coppola for Presley’s experience and voice to come through clearly, finally giving Elvis’ ex-wife the chance to share her story.
But for the actors playing Elvis and Priscilla, having to act out a person’s life story in front of them proved to be deeply uncomfortable. In fact, Cailee Spaeny, who plays Priscilla, even had to distance herself from the real-life figure during filming.
To prepare for the role, Spaeny spent time getting to know Priscilla, hearing about her experiences and spending time with her to pick up her mannerisms. Talking to People, she said Presley “was very kind to me and supportive and I think if I didn’t have that, I would have had a much harder time”.
Spaeny added: “That was my main source and obviously the book, but I got really lucky that the person I was playing was also very supportive”.
But when the film started shooting, Spaeny cut contact, claiming that speaking to Presley became “too overwhelming”. To avoid Presley’s input overshadowing Coppola’s directorial vision, the actors distanced themselves from their real life muse, with Spaeny saying, “In the end, it had to be Sofia’s vision”.
When it came to the film’s screening at festivals, the experience of watching the project while sitting next to the woman it was about proved to be both moving and uncomfortable for the two lead actors.
“Watching the film with Priscilla in Venice (at the Venice Film Festival) was just entirely surreal,” Jacob Elordi, who plays Elvis, told Today. “Seeing her watch her life through her eyes played back to her,” he continues, “felt kind of invasive, so I just sort of sat there like a little stiff.”
Spaeny shared Elordi’s conflicting feelings, commenting on the screening being the most “touching” yet “terrifying” experience of the film’s release cycle.
But all’s well that ends well as Spaeny reflected on Priscilla Presley’s praise: “I think she felt really moved by it. She looked at me and she said, ‘That was a great performance,’ and that was the first time hearing that, which was — it’s just been absolutely surreal.”
