Priscilla Presley went on to write a personal letter to the director of the Elvis Presley biopic, Baz Luhrmann. Elvis Presley was immortalized on the silver screen last year when Elvis was released in theaters. Australian director Baz Luhrmann directed the stylized biopic, which starred Austin Butler as the King of Rock and Roll. But when the casting of the young American actor was announced, Priscilla Presley was not pleased.
Priscilla had known Elvis for nearly eleven years before marrying him on May 1, 1967. They were married for just over six years before separating on October 9, 1973. But their romance did not end there. They remained close and saw each other frequently while co-parenting their daughter, Lisa Marie Presley. So when Austin Butler, an almost unknown star, was cast as Elvis, Priscilla voiced her displeasure. “I really mean this with great respect,” Baz added, “because now we’re like family.” But she became quite vocal about her reservations.”
“I’m not sure,” she said. This film has the potential to be insane. Baz can be crazy. And how is this thin kid supposed to play Elvis?” Baz said that he was aware that he was directing a film that would be difficult to watch. “There were going to be things that were going to be difficult for [people] to see about Elvis,” he explained. “But the most important thing was that they would see his humanity and true spirituality.” He remarked that Elvis would always be a real human being in his film. “Elvis had become wallpaper,” he continued. He looked like a Halloween costume. But he was always a husband, a father, a grandfather, and a person to his family.” In response, he stated that he would “not make the film unless he found someone who could play Elvis.” And he continued, “I didn’t think I could.” Baz then admitted that Priscilla was unsure how the film would turn out.
“[Priscilla] was quite cynical about how this young kid could, in fact, manifest her husband,” he said. But, of course, she changed her mind after seeing the film for the first time. She was overjoyed and wrote him a personal letter in which she acknowledged to being “hard” on him. “I’m not going to share everything,” he remarked. “My whole life I’ve had to put up with people impersonating my husband, and I don’t know how that boy did it, but every move, every wink,” she claimed. If my spouse were here, he’d remark, ‘Hot damn, you are me.'” After seeing Austin Butler’s performance with Memphis Mafia member Jerry Schilling after Elvis was released in theaters, Priscilla Presley gushed about it.
“Halfway through the film, Jerry and I looked at each other and said WOW!!!,” she explained. Congratulations to him…He was well aware that he had enormous shoes to fill. He was terrified about playing this part. I can only speculate.” “There were two sides to Colonel, Jerry and I witnessed both,” she said of Tom Hanks’ portrayal of Colonel Tom Parker. As we all know, the narrative does not have a happy ending. But I believe you will gain a better understanding of Elvis’ journey as told by a director who poured his heart, soul, and many hours into this film.”