Elvis Presley was one of the most famous men who ever lived. He’s the definition of rock star. Unfortunately, that of course came along with all the baggage stardom holds. A new movie from Sofia Coppola seeks to dive into Elvis’ relationship with Priscilla Presley, a girl he married when she was just 14 and he was 24. Priscilla wrote a memoir about her marriage to Elvis called Elvis and Me. Coppola borrows a lot from this memoir to tell the story. The film, of course, is called Priscilla.
Their daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, really didn’t like the way Elvis is portrayed in Coppola’s script. According to Variety, before she passed away earlier this year, Lisa Marie Presley sent two emails to Coppola voicing her concerns.
They quote one of the letters, which reads…
My father only comes across as a predator and manipulative. As his daughter, I don’t read this and see any of my father in this character. I don’t read this and see my mother’s perspective of my father. I read this and see your shockingly vengeful and contemptuous perspective and I don’t understand why. I will be forced to be in a position where I will have to openly say how I feel about the film and go against you, my mother, and this film publicly.
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Coppola disagreed, reportedly replying “I hope that when you see the final film you will feel differently, and understand I’m taking great care in honoring your mother, while also presenting your father with sensitivity and complexity.” Variety’s piece also claims that when Coppola actually began shooting Priscilla, the script was “trimmed” by 10 pages and that “efforts were made to ‘tone down’ some elements of the book regarding the couple’s courtship that would have been shocking to contemporary audiences.”
Unfortunately, we will never know what Lisa Marie Presley would have thought of the finished product; her emails to Coppola also included her saying “I feel protective over my mother who has spent her whole life elevating my father’s legacy. I am worried she doesn’t understand the intentions behind this film or the outcome it will have.”
Priscilla is now playing in theaters.
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