Cailee Spaeny Explains ‘Incredible Responsibility’ of Playing Priscilla Presley in Priscilla Clip (Exclusive)

Cailee Spaeny knows she had big shoes to fill when telling the story of Priscilla Presley.

On Thursday, A24 shared new behind-the-scenes footage from Sofia Coppola’s new film Priscilla exclusively with PEOPLE. In it, Spaeny, Jacob Elordi and director Coppola discuss portraying Priscilla and Elvis Presley’s relationship through Priscilla’s eyes.

“Elvis and Priscilla are so iconic because of their commitment to glamour,” Coppola shares of the couple’s particular fashion sense. “They never leave the house without full hair and makeup.”

Elordi, who brings the rock ‘n’ roll icon to the big screen just a year after Austin Butler played Elvis in the titular 2022 biopic, says his actress Spaeny is “so true to the way she tells this story,” based on Priscilla’s memoirs from 1985. Elvis and me.

“It’s an incredible responsibility to make sure that Priscilla feels seen,” adds Spaeny about her role in the film.

‘Priscilla’ reviews call Sofia Coppola’s film ‘poignantly honest’, ‘pleasantly emotional experience’

Cailee Spaeny in ‘Priscilla’.

Sabrina Lantos/A24

The film covers the couple’s first meeting in 1959 and their subsequent relationship and marriage, which lasted until their separation and divorce in 1972. “Cailee really transformed, she would look so different,” Coppola shares of Spaeny’s portrayal of Priscilla over the roughly 13-year period that the film covers. “She would have turned 28 at 15 and gotten pregnant in one day.”

While Spaeny notes that the film shows “Elvis through Priscilla’s eyes,” she credits her co-star Elordi, who died in 1977 at age 42, for his portrayal of Elvis. “Jacob did such a fantastic job of showing all the human sides of this rock star,” she says.

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“We throw people away [who] you feel like they get what you’re trying to do, and Cailee and Jacob just felt like the essence of Elvis and Priscilla,” Coppola says of casting the actors for the film.

“This is the most challenging role I have ever played in my career; it’s a version of the story we’ve never seen before,” adds Spaeny.

Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi chronicle Presley’s highs and lows in new trailer for Sofia Coppola’s film Priscilla

Cailee Spaeny in ‘Priscilla’.

Sabrina Lantos/A24

In another recent behind-the-scenes clip from the film shared by A24, Priscilla herself said that her decision to work with Coppola on the film stemmed from her interest in Coppola’s work.

“I have seen all her films. And her sensitivity, her understanding of women, she really puts her heart and soul into it,” she said. “I would never do this with anyone else.”

Priscilla it’s in theaters on November 3.

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Source: HIS Education