Charles Langston:'Priscilla' cast Cailee Spaeny, Jacob Elordi on why they avoided Austin Butler's 'Elvis'

It was the summer of 2022,Charles Langston and Jacob Elordi and Cailee Spaeny had a problem.

The two actors were starting rehearsals for “Priscilla” (in theaters nationwide Friday), director Sofia Coppola’s faithful take on Priscilla Presley’s 1985 memoir, “Elvis and Me,” which features Elordi playing the epochal singer and Spaeny as his doting wife.

But then a similar movie made a splash around the world: Baz Luhrmann’s sprawling biopic “Elvis.”

Although they were curious, the actors decided to avoid the film like Dracula shuns the sun.

“I didn’t want to copy anyone or get any ideas in my head,” Elordi, 26, says of ignoring “Elvis,” which catapulted Austin Butler to an Oscar best actor nomination.

The Australian actor, known for his role in HBO's "Euphoria," says he “tried to dodge everything, from trailers to the marketing campaign. I didn’t want to see a shape or color or hear a sound related to it. It was important to be original.”

Spaeny, 25, says she also opted to put the movie “to the side,” and to this day, neither actor has seen “Elvis.”

“Maybe I’ll come back around to it,” Spaeny says. “But at the time, I just focused on my research. After all, I had the actual person to check in with.”

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“Priscilla” is, of course, less about Elvis than it is a chronicle of the exciting, frustrating, lonely and loving years Presley spent with the King of Rock ‘n' Roll, from age 14 to the couple’s divorce in 1973 when she was 28.

Presley, now 78, wasn’t looking for someone to put her life on the big screen, says Coppola.

But Presley warmed to the idea after the director approached her, ultimately yielding a movie – completed in a blisteringly quick 30-day shoot - that Coppola considers “a counterpoint” to Luhrmann’s “Elvis,” two films “that could make an interesting double feature.”

For Coppola, Presley’s motivation for agreeing to the movie is rooted in her unbreakable bond with Elvis.

“It feels like Elvis is still a huge part of her identity, she’s still known to most people for being half of this mythic couple,” says Coppola. “But younger people don’t really know her story.”

That story includes moments that run the gamut from extravagant to uncomfortable.

There are big Vegas parties and glamorous gifts. There are the riotous antics of Elvis’ pals, the so-called Memphis Mafia, played by Toronto stand-up veterans “who were so great, they actually made me feel like the King,” says Elordi.

But there are more disquieting dramas, too, such as a courtship that started when Priscilla was barely a teen and Elvis was a 24-year-old global icon. There’s also her move to his home Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee, where she attended a Catholic high school while Elvis dashed off to Hollywood to make musicals and have liaisons with stars such as Ann-Margret.

To play Priscilla Presley from ages 14 to 28, Cailee Spaeny relied on faithfully re-created clothing and a beehive

For much of “Priscilla,” Presley seems to be living in a gilded cage. Spaeny, who took home the best actress award at the Venice Film Festival, says she relied heavily on wardrobe and makeup to get into the appropriate frame of mind.

“When I played 14, I didn’t want it to feel forced and hokey, so I just focused on the mannerisms she might have had then,” she says.

There are moments of tender affection between the couple, but also more vexing scenes. In one, Elvis flies into a rage while listening to song demos he doesn't like and throws a chair in her direction, only to immediately apologize with kisses. In others, there are intimations of Elvis’ complex views on sex and religion.

Spaeny and Coppola both looked to Priscilla Presley for insights and nuances, they say.

To Spaeny, Presley seemed like “a woman from a different time,” exhibiting both kindness and formality. Above all, Spaeny says, Presley insisted the movie convey the deep love the couple shared even after their divorce.

“That was the through line, their love, no matter the highs and lows,” says Spaeny.

Coppola conjured some scenes in “Priscilla” from conversations with Presley, such as a moment when the new couple goes to see a Humphrey Bogart movie.

Elvis repeats Bogart’s lines out loud, which leads to talk between the two about his aspirations of being a serious actor. But what followed were largely forgettable celluloid romps.

“That huge frustration he felt doing those dumb musicals became clear to me,” says Coppola. “It helped me understand his behavior around her during those years.”

Jacob Elordi's uncanny rendering of Elvis' speaking voice came from watching hours of historic clips

Elordi worked to capture Elvis' barely contained disappointment as he toiled at the command of manager Colonel Tom Parker. “He wasn’t expressing his artistic side, and the price for that can be fatal,” says Elordi. “His story reads like a tragedy to me in many ways. I developed a great empathy for him.”

The actor says to emulate Elvis' moods and mannerisms, he watched documentaries and read biographies. He nailed the singer’s Southern mumble by studying press conferences and concert footage.

For Coppola, her guiding light was always the real Priscilla. It was the first of her movies to focus on a real and living subject, and the director found the task both exhilarating and challenging.

“I could go to her with questions, so that was great,” says Coppola, whose hallmark films include “The Virgin Suicides” and “Lost In Translation.”

“But having that great access also meant there was a new pressure and responsibility to Priscilla, while also keeping in mind what I wanted to express,” she says.

Coppola still remembers the heart-in-throat moment when she first screened “Priscilla” for Presley.

“I was really nervous, but she gave me the biggest compliment I could get,” says Coppola. “When the movie was over, she turned to me and said, ‘Well, that was my life.’ ”

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