Featured Image Credit: Bettmann / Contributor/A24
Topics: Film and TV, Celebrity
Callum Jones
Priscilla Presley has explained why she found the new biopic Priscilla difficult to watch, as she fought back tears at a recent press conference.
Directed by Sofia Coppola, Priscilla tells the story of how the 78-year-old met Elvis Presley and all the glitz and glamour that came with it.
The drama is set to release in the US on 27 October and stars Cailee Spaeny in the title role and Jacob Elordi as Elvis.
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Priscilla herself was not meant to be part of the Venice Film Festival press conference discussing the new biopic, however, she jumped in from the crowd after being asked what it was like to see her life portrayed on screen.
"It’s very difficult to sit and watch a film about you, about your life, about your love," Priscilla began as she teared up, as per Variety.
But after taking a moment to collect herself, she continued: "Sofia did an amazing job. She did her homework, we spoke a couple of times and I really put everything out for her that I could."
Priscilla met Elvis when she was just 14 while the singer was 24. Though Priscilla insisted at the press conference that Elvis did not take advantage of her youth.
She said: "It was very difficult for my parents to understand that Elvis would be so interested in me and why.
"And I really do think because I was more of a listener. Elvis would pour his heart out to me in every way in Germany: his fears, his hopes, the loss of his mother - which he never, ever got over. And I was the person who really, really sat there to listen and to comfort him. That was really our connection.
"Even though I was 14, I was actually a little bit older in life - not in numbers. That was the attraction. People think, ‘Oh, it was sex.’ No, it wasn’t. I never had sex with him.
"He was very kind, very soft, very loving, but he also respected the fact I was only 14 years old. We were more in line in thought, and that was our relationship."
Priscilla added: "I didn’t know why he put so much trust in me, but he did. And I never, ever, ever told anyone that I was seeing him, and that was another issue that he loved, is the fact that I never gave him up in any way. I never told anyone at school that I was seeing him.
"So, we built a relationship and then our relationship went on until I left. And it wasn’t because I didn’t love him - he was the love of my life.
"It was the lifestyle that was so difficult for me, and I think any woman can relate to that. But it didn’t mar our relationship, we still remained very close.
"And of course, we had our daughter, and I made sure that he saw her all the time. It was like we never left each other."