It was reading Priscilla Presley’s 1985 memoir, Elvis and Me, that sparked Sofia Coppola’s interest in directing a film about the period of time when as a teenager, Presley first met the world-famous singer and would soon become his wife. “I could see how Priscilla’s book could be a movie: When you’re reading it, you feel like you’re part of her experiences,” Coppola told W for her Originals Issue cover story.
In Priscilla, Cailee Spaeny inhabits the titular role with a combination of innocence and poise. As the 14-year-old Army brat meets and falls in love with Elvis (played with charming insouciance by Jacob Elordi), she transforms into the woman he wants her to become, her hair growing higher and higher, and her eyeliner bolder with each passing year. Eventually, Priscilla learns to live for herself and steps out of Elvis’s shadow into her own light.
As a director and an artist, Coppola is also, famously, a collector—gathering the ephemera that comes with making a film, from its inception to its final execution, into a collage of memories. Her book, Archive, is a compendium of her life’s work thus far, featuring photographs, notes, and moments from making movies like The Virgin Suicides and Marie Antoinette to tell the story of her artistic process. Priscilla was no different. During the course of the 30-day shoot in Toronto (which served as a stand-in for Memphis where Graceland is located) Coppola captured all the behind-the-scenes moments with the people, set pieces, and places that made the film what it is.
Coppola with Spaeny as the 14-year-old Priscilla Presley on the Toronto set of Priscilla.
Elordi and Spaeny study the film’s script in front of a backdrop of inspiration images.
“I got to build my own Graceland!” Coppola told W’s Lynn Hirschberg in our annual Originals Issue. Here, Elordi and Spaeny are seen outside a reproduction of the couple’s famous home.
The film’s costume designer Stacy Battat, one of Coppola’s frequent collaborators, commissioned over 120 custom looks for the film.
The car from a scene where Elvis gifts Priscilla a car for her graduation.
Elvis and the “Memphis Mafia” with Sofia. From left to right: Jacob Elordi, Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll, Dan Beirne, Sofia Coppola, Tim Dowler-Coltman, Dan Abramovici, Matthew Shaw.
The evolution of Cailee Spaeny’s hairstyles as Priscilla Presley reflect her evolution from a teenager to adulthood.
Spaeny hits her mark with shopping bags and a colorful retro look.
Elordi, who is often spotted with a vintage camera in real life, snaps a photo of Sofia Coppola on set.
“Truthfully, I was never that interested in Elvis,” Coppola told W’s Lynn Hirschberg in our annual Originals Issue. “I liked that he was committed to style, but his personality didn’t intrigue me at the time.”
For the wedding scene, Chanel made a custom dress inspired by of Presley’s original bridal gown.
