Actor Cailee Spaeny had yet to see "Priscilla," the film recounting Elvis and Priscilla Presley's relationship where she plays the titular role, until its premiere in Venice, Italy.
Spaeny tells TODAY.com she didn't want to see herself in most frames of the film, but director Sofia Coppola told her to enjoy the moment and watch it. She tried to do just that — until she found out the real Priscilla Presley would be sitting right next to her and her co-star Jacob Elordi, who played Elvis Presley.
As the credits started rolling at the end of the film, Spaeny tells TODAY.com Priscilla Presley turned and whispered something to her.
"She said, 'That was a great performance,'" Spaeny says. "That was the first time I'd ever heard that from her."
The 25-year-old's portrayal of Priscilla Presley from when she met her future husband at age 14, to their separation when she was in her late 20s, landed her a seven-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival, and the festival's coveted Volpi Cup for best actress.
Spaeny says she was able to meet with Priscilla Presley several times before filming began, where their first conversation was about four hours long.
Priscilla Presley was open, sharing the inside jokes she had with the King of Rock 'n' Roll and their more intimate moments.
"There was one moment where she talked about how when she was there living in Memphis, they'd rent out movie theaters — it would be in the middle of the night and the town would be silent," she says. "It was her and Elvis and his 'Memphis Mafia' (the singer's entourage) all together, watching films all night long, and and then she'd have to get up in the morning and go to school."
"The setting that she lived in is such a heightened world," she adds. "You know, she went to high school while she was living at Graceland."
Spaeny says she didn't listen to Elvis Presley's music to get into Priscilla Presley's mindset, but she used movies and music from the 1960s to contexualize the era.
"Although I grew up listening to Elvis — I love Elvis' music — it was more like ... Sofia loved playing Mazzy Star's "Fade Into You" when I walked in to a scene. She just decided that was my walk on song, which was great. Basically any moody, girly music, I was listening to."
Spaeny says telling her parents she'd landed the role was a full circle moment.
"My mom was like, 'Can I hide in the bushes when you meet Priscilla?'" Spaeny says with a laugh. "So she didn't really play it chill."
The film's Los Angeles premiere reminded her how far she had come since making her parents a PowerPoint presentation at age 14 while living in Missouri about why she should be able to move to Hollywood to pursue an acting career.
Spaeny, the seventh of nine children in her family, says she was able to take her parents to the film's LA premiere, along with a few of her siblings, where she was able to introduce them to Priscilla.
"There's so many of them that it's hard," she says with a laugh of making sure all her siblings were able to join her at the film's premieres in different cities around the globe. "But I try my best."
