This strike-filled year has been tough for everyone, but in this chaos, some stars are starting to rise. Jacob Elordi had already made a name for himself on HBO’s “Euphoria.” 2023 has brought critical acclaim for his performances in Emerald Fennell’s “Saltburn” and stepping into the blue suede shoes of Elvis Presley in Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla.” Cailee Spaeny landed the first major leading role of her career in “Priscilla” and walked away with the Best Actress honor at the 2023 Venice Film Festival. Both actors were surprised when they learned Coppola wanted to meet with them.
Elordi says getting an email to have breakfast with Coppola was “one of the coolest days ever.” She didn’t mention the film, however. It wasn’t until a couple of weeks later that he got audition sides with “Elvis” at the top of them. He recalls, “I just was like, ‘Well, may as well just do this quickly.’ I taped it straight away because I was like, ‘Well, I don’t really know what I’m supposed to do with this.’ And then ended up getting given the role, which I’m still pinching myself a little bit.”
Spaeny’s meeting was more direct, with Coppola pulling out an iPad and showing her photos of Priscilla. She was shocked when Coppola said she thought Spaeny could play the role. Eventually, the “On the Basis of Sex” star thought she was waiting for a chemistry read, but that didn’t end up happening.
“Kirsten Dunst had put in a good word for me. So, I think that helped the process,” Spaney says. “And then I think the thing about Sofia is that when she feels like she knows what she wants and she felt good about the casting and she’s just like, ‘O.K., we’re doing it. Let’s dive in.’ Which was sort of strange for me because I was like, ‘Maybe you should see me first.’ But from the day that she decided, she put total faith in us, which is always nice to have.”
Over the course of our conversation, Elrodi and Spaney reflect on the latter’s Venice win, what Priscilla thought was important to share with them, avoiding Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis” and much more.
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The Playlist: Congratulations on the movie.
Cailee Spaeny: Thank you.
The Playlist: And Cailee, you also took the Best Actress prize at the Venice Film Festival last month. What was that experience like for you?
Cailee Spaeny: I think just the fact that we were going to be in Venice and it was my first time watching the film with Priscilla in the room with me. That was so wild and really surreal, and I sort of couldn’t believe it. And then sort of holding my breath to see what the response was going to be and the response being positive and feeling like, “Wow, O.K., this is going well. Whew, we made it out.” And then to get the call, I didn’t really think about the fact that we were in competition. It just didn’t click in my head. I didn’t know what that meant. And then getting the call I was going to be awarded something was a real shock. And then them not knowing, not telling me what I was going to be awarded for exactly. It was just all really so strange and exciting. But I was very shocked by the whole thing and don’t really know how to process it still, but hoping that it’s good for the film, and I’m happy to have brought it home and it’s very cool.
The Playlist: It was very cool. For both of you, what were your initial thoughts when this role came your way? I don’t know if you auditioned or if Sofia reached out individually. How did that happen?
Jacob Elordi: Oh, I got an email asking me to come to breakfast with Sofia, which was one of the coolest days ever. And then I went and had breakfast with her and then she didn’t mention the film. And then a couple of weeks later I got sent these audition sides that said Elvis at the top of them. And I just was like, “Well, may as well just do this quickly.” I taped it straight away because I was like, “Well, I don’t really know what I’m supposed to do with this.” And then ended up getting given the role, which I’m still pinching myself a little bit.
The Playlist: What about you, Cailee?
Cailee Spaeny: Yeah, sort of similar in the way that it started. I just got a call saying, “Sofia wants to meet you for a role.” And I was like, “Whoa, O.K. where do I go? I’m leaving right now.” And I race off to New York. Met her for a croissant, trying to act really cool, just chatting about life. I’m like, “Where is this going?” And then she did actually bring up the project while we were meeting, pulled out her iPad, and started showing me photos of Priscilla Presley. And I was just sort of shocked by the whole thing and she was like, “I think maybe you could do this.” She’s like, “I’m flying to LA to meet Priscilla tomorrow. I’m fascinated by the story.” And, because I hadn’t read the book, started talking about her journey. And then I think there were talks about maybe doing some sort of chemistry read, but then that ended up not happening. Kirsten Dunst had put in a good word for me. So, I think that helped the process. And then I think the thing about Sofia is that when she feels like she knows what she wants and she felt good about the casting and she’s just like, “O.K., we’re doing it. Let’s dive in.” Which was sort of strange for me because I was like, “Maybe you should see me first.” But from the day that she decided, she put total faith in us, which is always nice to have.
The Playlist: As actors, do you sometimes prefer to do a chemistry reading with someone so that you at least think, “O.K., wait, this is going to work”?
Cailee Spaeny: I do because then I feel like I can show up on set knowing that they are sure that I’m going to be able to play the full role. You want it, but also I guess when it’s someone like Sofia, she’s pretty spot on with her casting, and so you just got to trust.
Jacob Elordi: Sofia is always right.
Cailee Spaeny: She’s always.
The Playlist: I don’t know when she first met with you guys, but I believe you shot in October of 2020? Basically a year ago.
Cailee Spaeny: Less than a year. Yeah.
The Playlist: Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis” had already come out and was a big hit. Did it make you nervous about tackling similar material so soon?
Jacob Elordi: You want me to tell it?
Cailee Spaeny: Yeah, take it.
Jacob Elordi: I think it was just coming out as we were filming, but it was pretty clear at that point of the stage that for me personally would’ve, I didn’t want to have any other ideas of the world in my head. I wanted to build it all from the information myself, but I didn’t find it intimidating other than just trying to avoid the stimulus, so I wasn’t affected by it or anything, or I wasn’t copying anything.
Cailee Spaeny: My Instagram algorithm was all “Elvis” and Priscilla, so it was hard to avoid.
Jacob Elordi: It felt like that marketing budget was out to get us, and I also wanted to be able to enjoy that film, and I knew that wouldn’t happen until after I creatively had sort of gotten it out on my end kind of thing.
The Playlist: Obviously, Elvis has been a fixture in pop culture for 70 years, and people have an impression of what his voice sounds like. How hard was it to get that out of your head? Because I feel like you do one of the more low-key versions of Elvis in many ways that we’ve seen.
Jacob Elordi: From the start, my mom actually reminded me of this just the other day, from the start I sort of picked a voice that I wanted to do for him that was going to be his kind of bedroom voice behind closed-doors, what I imagined the super eight videos of him and Priscilla spending time together, what his kind of personal voice sounded like. And I remember my mom reminding me yesterday that apparently before we were filming, I was having a meltdown to her. And I was like, “No one’s going to understand that I’ve chosen to do this voice and not the caricature thing, and I think people are going to think I’m stupid.” And so it’s actually, it’s a really great relief now to have you say that and to have people say that they could kind of identify that it was maybe a different Elvis.
Cailee Spaeny: You did it.
The Playlist: Did Sophia work with you on that or was that your individual choice?
Jacob Elordi: I was shooting another movie in England at the time, so I built it around that time. And then I got in the room just before we were starting with Liz Himmelstein, this accent coach, and we spoke about, and then we really drove home the ideas of making him a real person from the South and not getting lost in a performative voice.
The Playlist: Cailee, people don’t have the same preconceived notions about, or what they think Priscilla sounds like. Did meeting her affect your choices and how you portrayed her at all or did you just go with your gut?
Cailee Spaeny: Yeah, well, I got a sense of who I felt like she was from the book [1986’s “Elvis and Me”] and then also interviews of her. There are no interviews of her while they were together, so it’s her much older. But then meeting her in person, I think, I mean, was sort of the greatest gift I could have asked for. And just being in her presence and understanding how she holds herself and the things she does in sort of social settings or what she’s passionate about. So, trying to take her in in that way was extremely useful. And then I had my own sort of ideas of how when she was 14 years old and I sort of injected my own opinion of what I thought she was like then.
The Playlist: Did she give either of you any sort of anecdotes about either herself or Elvis?
Cailee Spaeny: Yeah, I really wanted to make sure she felt like she wasn’t getting sort of interviewed. It was such a sensitive time in her life, a really special [time in her life]. She looks back at it fondly. That was actually one of my questions. She’s like, “Absolutely, some of my favorite memories are from that time.” But I didn’t want her to feel like… I wanted it to feel natural and I just sort of let her go down whatever rabbit holes she felt comfortable talking about. But there were little moments that she shared with me, little details, or just watching her eyes light up going back to a certain night with him or a funny memory or things she had to sort of avoid or difficulties. And watching the woman herself relive those moments was extremely useful, especially in the style which Sofia tells this story, which really, feels like you’re looking back on a memory. It’s very sort of impressionistic. We don’t hang on a beat too long, in this dreamlike world. So, those details were really everything.
The Playlist: What about you, Jacob? I am assuming you met her as well. Did she have anything for you?
Jacob Elordi: I got to have a phone call with her before we started filming. I think she said that the mood in the house, everyone would wake up before Elvis and they’d be downstairs having breakfast. She said that the mood would depend on the footsteps you heard coming down the steps from his bedroom and everybody would adjust themselves according to the kind of feeling that he put out as he was coming down the stairs for what kind of day everybody was going to have. I thought that was really interesting. It was like the temperature of the room.
The Playlist: I’ve read about how Sophia plays music on set to create aunique atmosphere. How else would you differentiate her from other directors that you guys have worked with so far in your career?
Jacob Elordi: She’s the GOAT. I mean, she just stands alone. She stands by herself.
The Playlist: Is she someone who gives explicit direction? Does she let you guys sort of go with your own instincts? Is she a rehearsal first director?
Jacob Elordi: Complete freedom.
Cailee Spaeny: Yeah, she’s big on just setting the tone and making sure everyone gets the general bones of the scenes and the moments and she’ll sort of nudge things in one direction or the other. But I feel like a lot of the times working with directors when they get on set, they tend to come across like they’re trying to prove something or gain respect in a certain sort of way, and they use different tactics, sort of gaining crews trust or whatever it is. And she just has none of that. She is so collaborative and really wants everyone involved and she wants to have a good time making a film, but also does an incredible amount of homework and knows how she wants to tell this story. So, she really just has the balance of, it’s the best of both worlds with her.
The Playlist: One of the things that this film has brought up again, which many people don’t really realize when they think about this story, was just how young Priscilla was when she met Elvis and when she left her family and went with him. Was that the biggest takeaway you took when first reading the script or the book? Was there anything that you felt was shocking, or what you weren’t expecting in this story?
Cailee Spaeny: I think the biggest takeaway for me was just how surprised I was at how universal a lot of the emotions she went through in terms of giving herself away to something, someone that I think a lot of people have to face. And then finding out how she gets through that and it comes out seeing things more clearly on the other side and with this backdrop that’s really sort of unusual and heightened. But obviously reading the book, not knowing her point of view, there were elements to it that were absolutely shocking, but I just felt like it was interesting to put a human story on screen that sometimes fits in this gray area that hopefully will start conversations. And I think the best films for me are the ones that sort of open up a lot of questions and where you’re leaving the theater with a friend and those conversations have been sparked. And I think Sophia does that with her films. And I think this movie slots right into her body of work in that way.
The Playlist: Jacob, from your perspective, especially in those early scenes when Elvis is meeting her so young, were you cognizant of, “I need to make sure I don’t play this creepily.” Was that even a thought that sort of popped into your head?
Jacob Elordi: It’s pretty clear in Priscilla’s book that the whole thing was, everything starts with this deep, deep love. So, I just wanted to respect that in every scene. I wanted to play a real person and a human being. And I think the book does such a great job of telling a love story and just putting two real people in these kind of mythical shoes that the world’s created around them.
The Playlist: When you finally got the script was there any scene in particular you were most nervous about?
Cailee Spaeny: We’ve been asked this question and I can’t ever, there’s never, I mean, you brought up the ending scene.
Jacob Elordi: Yeah, but I think every single day had, every bit of the movie kind of played into every day of filming. So every day was definitely like you’d wake up and go, “O.K.”
Cailee Spaeny: We shot it in 30 days. There was never, “Oh, we’ve got a light one today.”
Jacob Elordi: There was no break. Yeah, there was no rest or anything. For Cailee there was absolutely no rest. [She’s in] every frame of that movie.
The Playlist: Cailee, when you’re making something like this, where you’re literally working almost every day, are you just exhausted at the end? Are you mentally exhausted?
Cailee Spaeny: Yeah. You go into this sort of weird, it’s like you’re floating. You’re not really living in the normal, real world. You’re in this funny little set of, you’re in this circus with all these creatives who are in a bubble and only thinking about one thing for so long. It’s a strange sort of cult-like experience. So you get a little funny at the end and yeah, you’re tired, but we all had each other’s back along the way. It was a very supportive environment, which obviously makes a world of difference.
The Playlist: You’re one of the few groups of actors who have been able to promote their movies and do Q&As and interact with people. What are you taking away from audiences seeing the film?
Jacob Elordi: I think for me personally, and I think I can sort of speak for both of us as we’re just big fans of movies. Big, big movie nerds. And I think it means the absolute world to be able to promote a film that’s made on a small budget like this and to support independent cinema and to support the arts and creatives in a time when they’re just being completely f**ked over.
“Priscilla” opens in limited release on Friday. It expands nationwide on Nov. 3.
