Kirsten Dunst ‘Burst Into Tears’ When Cailee Spaeny Was Cast in Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla (Exclusive)

Cailee Spaeny shares how Kirsten Dunst cheered her on when she was cast as Priscilla Presley in last year’s film Priscilla.

At SXSW, the world premiere of Spaeny and Dunst’s new film Civil war Thursday, Spaeny, 25, tells PEOPLE she secured the lead role in director Sofia Coppola’s latest film on the last day she and Dunst, 41, were filming Civil war together.

“I had to tell her I got the part and she burst into tears and gave me a big hug. It was a really special, magical moment,” Spaeny, who described Dunst as a mentor on the film Civil war expensive, he says.

Dunst, well known for working with Coppola (52) on films like Suicide virgins (1999), Maria Antoinette (2006) and Deceived (2017), adds that she “of course” remembers when Spaeny told her that Coppola had hired her Priscilla.

“I cried because I was also encouraging Sofia, because I worked with Cailee and I said, ‘I loved working with her,’ and I knew they would work well together,” she says. “So I was a supportive friend.”

Kirsten Dunst documents a divided America — under President Nick Offerman — in a shocking Civil war Trailer

Kirsten Dunst and Cailee Spaeny.

Rick Kern/WireImage

Spaeny starred with Jacob Elordi Priscillawhich follows the famous relationship and marriage between Elvis Presley and Priscilla Presley and is based on Priscilla’s real-life 1985 memoir. Elvis and me. Priscilla and Elvis, who Elordi portrays in the film, met for the first time in 1959 and divorced in 1972.

Priscilla marked a major breakthrough role for Spaeny, who is just six years removed from her first feature credits for appearing in 2018 films. Pacific Rim: Uprising, Bad times at the El Royale, Based on gender and Vice.

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When Coppola promoted Priscilla back in September, she shared with W Magazine that Dunst personally brought Spaeny to her attention as a potential candidate for the role of Priscilla. “Kirsten is like a sister to me, and when she recommended Cailee, I paid attention,” she told the paper at the time, noting that she offered Spaeny the role after a breakfast meeting in New York.

Cailee Spaeny Says Priscilla Presley’s Reaction to Her Role Is ‘Best Review I Could Get’ (Exclusive)

Civil war.

A24

IN Civil warthe latest film by director Alex Garland (Ex Machina, Destruction), Dunst and Spaeny play two photojournalists documenting the horrific civil war taking place within the United States. Wagner Moura and Stephen McKinley Henderson also star as reporters in the upcoming film, which also stars Dunstan’s husband Jesse Plemons. On the red carpet, Spaeny tells PEOPLE that she, Dunst, Moura and McKinley Henderson “became incredibly close because we were really in the car for the whole movie.”

“So we were four actors and we really had to rely on each other,” she says. “We shot chronologically so the connection I have with the actors was real. We shot in real time.”

Priscilla currently streaming on Max, doc Civil war opens in theaters on April 12.

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Source: HIS Education