Priscilla Presley and Director Sofia Coppola sit down with THR and discuss creating the A24 film Priscilla, where audiences will get a rare look at her and Elvis Presley's story from Priscilla's point of view.
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00:00 And I never discussed it.
00:02 - You never told a girlfriend, like,
00:03 "Oh my God, I met Elvis."
00:05 Can you imagine keeping that to yourself?
00:07 - No, no.
00:08 - Such an unbelievable story.
00:09 (upbeat music)
00:12 Hi, I'm Sophia Copeland.
00:13 - Hi, and I'm Priscilla Presley.
00:15 - And we're here talking with The Hollywood Reporter.
00:17 (upbeat music)
00:20 When I read Priscilla's book,
00:24 I was really struck by,
00:26 it's this, you know, this world that seems so exotic,
00:31 growing up at Graceland with Elvis,
00:33 but then she wrote it in such a way
00:35 that was really relatable,
00:36 and with, you know, her sensitivity and struggles
00:40 and what it was really like.
00:41 So I just thought it was so interesting
00:42 to have her perspective on this unique setting,
00:46 but it was so relatable,
00:47 and that she goes through things
00:48 that all young women go through.
00:50 - You called and told me what you wanted to do,
00:52 and of course I was never gonna say no,
00:55 because I admire her and her family, I think, too.
00:58 I can relate to,
00:59 and I felt that she, because of her father
01:02 and your whole family, actually,
01:04 so talented and knows, you know,
01:06 knows how to tell a story.
01:08 - Thank you.
01:09 I just remember as a young woman starting making films
01:12 that I didn't always see how I felt teenage girls
01:15 were represented in a way that was relatable,
01:17 and I always felt like the actors were much older,
01:20 and when I read the book "Aversion Suicides,"
01:23 I really felt that I wanted to make that film
01:26 and kind of show an interior life of teenage girls
01:29 in a way that I felt was relatable.
01:31 So I guess that was something
01:32 that I just felt like I didn't see very often
01:34 and wanted to express.
01:36 And yeah, I've always been interested in these stories
01:39 and connected with that side,
01:41 and I think it's always interesting
01:43 how life throws such situations you would never see at you,
01:47 and then how it helps shape who you are
01:51 and how you deal with them.
01:53 - What about boys at school?
01:54 Must be some handsome ones.
01:56 - You look back and you go, "Why me?
02:00 "You know, why am I here?
02:01 "Why am I driving, you know, in a limo
02:06 "going through the gates of Graceland
02:09 "and being with Elvis?"
02:12 I think, you know, he had a lot of trust in me.
02:15 He confided a lot of things to me when we were in Germany.
02:20 His fears, his loves, his concerns about his father.
02:25 He just trusted me,
02:28 and I never ever said anything to anyone.
02:32 I never exposed him in any way
02:34 that I would even share with anyone.
02:38 I think how that started was I never told anyone in Germany
02:43 when I went back to school that I was seeing him.
02:46 They didn't know until when he left Germany
02:49 and I was in the press did they know?
02:52 And I never discussed it.
02:54 - You never told a girlfriend, like,
02:55 "Oh my God, I met Elvis."
02:58 Can you imagine keeping that to yourself?
03:00 - No, I didn't, I didn't.
03:02 I would never, you know.
03:03 - That was your first kiss?
03:04 Like, I mean, like all those things that you tell.
03:05 - No, I didn't, no.
03:07 - That's so wild, and it's so hard to believe.
03:09 It's such an unbelievable story.
03:10 I just remember the detail of, like,
03:12 you putting on your eyelashes as you're going into labor,
03:15 and imagine, like, trying to wake up Elvis in the morning
03:17 'cause he never woke up before 4 p.m.
03:19 And just, I think all the details of the reality
03:21 of her life is so fun to know about,
03:25 and also kind of really puts you in the story
03:28 through her eyes.
03:30 - I have to say, when I saw the movie,
03:34 I was truly engrossed in it,
03:37 and tried to separate myself from, you know,
03:42 that it's my story.
03:44 At the end, I actually, I was quite emotional.
03:48 It was done just so really sensitively,
03:53 with a lot of care, and I had tears in my eyes, for sure.
03:58 (upbeat music)
04:01 (upbeat music)