By Mr. Will Wong
After winning raves in Venice and a seal of approval from Priscilla Presley herself, Sofia Coppola‘s PRISCILLA arrives after much anticipation. The Toronto-made adaptation of Presley‘s Memoir Elvis and Me: The True Story of the Love Between Priscilla Presley and the King of Rock N’ Roll tells the story from her perspective from the thrills of love and fame to the loneliness of isolation.
We had the honour of sitting-in on a chat with visionary Writer/Director Coppola and star Cailee Spaeny who plays the Film’s iconic titular character.
Sofia Coppola is asked what drew her to adapting this Memoir, written some 40-plus years ago.
Coppola: “I was reading Priscilla Presley’s Memoir and I never expected to get so involved in it. I was really surprised because I realized how little I knew about her. I was just really moved by her story and connected to the way she described everything she went through from being a girl to an independent woman after such an unusual circumstance. I had no idea she was in high school living at Graceland. I felt her story said so much about women of my mother’s generation and what all girls go through, but in this really unique way. And I wanted to dive into that world of ’60s Graceland American folklore.”.
Cailee Spaeny talks about growing-up with Coppola’s work.
Spaeny: “I think the thing I found so shocking, I grew-up in an Elvis-loving family. We grew-up going to Graceland and he was very much a part of my childhood. I knew that Priscilla went with Elvis and I’ve seen the iconic photos, but I didn’t know her side of things. So it was an exciting story to dive into and tell because it’s long overdue to tell her side of the story. And the way that Sofia wrote the Script, it was so visual. You could really feel the environment you were in. And also growing-up with Sofia‘s films – the way that she taps into young female stories is so rare in a lot of films these days. She always finds a true depiction of young teenage girls. I was excited to tell the story that hadn’t been told before, but with this Filmmaker. I couldn’t imagine anyone else telling the story.”.
Coppola talks to now being able to tell a story like this at her current stage of life, being a mother to teens.
Coppola: “I was really happy to have access to Priscilla and her being open to re-living that era, and she talks about it in such vivid detail, and gave so much insight. Picking it up at this stage in my life, I felt that I’d had experience making films, so I had this feeling that I now know how to make this. You always figure it out as you go, it’s always a challenge. You never really know what you’re doing. The idea of finding one’s identity always appeals to me. I’m also at the point in my life where I’m the mother of teenage girls, so I could really see the story from both perspectives. How could her parents let her go live at Graceland? And also what tension that brought. I just felt that now I have a different perspective that now I could put more into the story in different levels.”.
Spaeny talks about aging Priscilla Presley from age 14 to 28 in this Film.
Spaeny: “It was one of the biggest challenges to take on, for those ages to feel true. You do everything you can to map out the choices you’re going to make to differentiate. We shot this in 30 days and we shot it out of order, so you were really trying to find things along the way to help anchor yourself. We had an amazing Costume, Hair and Makeup departments that did so much research and brought so much love into telling the story. That was really key in me grounding myself to those ages, and also where she was emotionally through this journey. I think in Sofia‘s movies, everyone just brings their A Game. She creates such a collaborative environment and has a calming presence which helps when you have a challenge like this to take on. I felt really lucky.”.
Coppola talks about her biggest challenge in making Priscilla.
Coppola: “It was a new challenge for me. I’ve never worked on someone’s story that was alive and would see the story. It was definitely something I kept in mind and how do I also make sure that it’s a story that Priscilla feels represents her experience. The biggest challenge was to take such a big part of someone’s life and boil it down to the essence to fit into the length of a movie. How do I do that to give the impression of everything she went through so that by the end you have a sense of what her experience was like?”.
Spaeny walks us though her preparation process.
Spaeny: “First step was reading the Book and reading the Script, really diving into that and writing-out the biggest questions that I had. Taking that time to meet Priscilla and go through that chapter of her life. I always wanted her to feel comfortable. I never wanted her to feel I was interviewing her, I wanted it to come out naturally. She would go into these specific memories she had with him and it was really special the detail that she would talk about. But also, just taking in the presence of this woman who’s lived this life. It was like her eyes would sparkle again talking about certain moments. She’d laugh at an inside joke they had and it was these nuggets of gold that helped me put this massive puzzle together. Especially the way that Sofia tells it in this impressionistic, memory type of way that it was really those flash and nuances that I really wanted to absorb when I was around her. She’s a really fascinating woman, really graceful and soft-spoken, with a fierceness about her and very protective.”.
“You do as much prep as you can but then you just have to trust yourself.”.
Both Spaeny and Coppola comment about Jacob Elordi, who plays Elvis in the Film.
Spaeny: “I was a fan of his work so I was interested what he was going to bring to the table. I messaged him right away when I found out that he had the role. We met a couple times and I wanted to get a sense of who he was and wanted us to feel comfortable around each other, because I knew once we started filming it was going to be crazy trying to shoot this in 30 days. I wanted to make sure we felt comfortable around each other. He had my back throughout the entire process and he did so much research. He’s so naturally charismatic and wears his heart out on his sleeve, so it was so nice for those parts of him to come through. He was an Actor I always felt I could trust every day going into a scene. I knew he was going to have an idea to bring to the table and know how to flip something on its head. A lot of this Movie I’m reacting off of him so it was so essential that I knew I could trust him. He is such a giving Actor, I felt really lucky and it was such a joy to watch what he did every day.”.
Coppola: “It was really important to go by the perspective that Priscilla does in the Book, showing him as a human because he’s such a godlike figure in our culture and she talks about what he was like, their vulnerabilties and what they were like behind closed doors. It was so interesting to ride the highs and lows she went through and show his incredible charm, his vulnerability and also this dark side he had, and show it as the complex relationship that it was. It was important that he was never villainized, that we saw him as a human, that he was struggling and understand her story through that.”.
Elevation Pictures release PRISCILLA in theatres November 3, 2023.
Elevation Pictures x Mr. Will are giving Readers in Toronto a chance to win passes to the Toronto Advance Screening of PRISCILLA on November 1, 2023.
Synopsis:
When teenage Priscilla Beaulieu meets Elvis Presley at a party, the man who is already a meteoric rock-and-roll superstar becomes someone entirely unexpected in private moments: a thrilling crush, an ally in loneliness, a vulnerable best friend. Through Priscilla’s eyes, Sofia Coppola tells the unseen side of a great American myth in Elvis and Priscilla’s long courtship and turbulent marriage, from a German army base to his dream-world estate at Graceland, in this deeply felt and ravishingly detailed portrait of love, fantasy, and fame.
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Elevation Pictures release PRISCILLA November 3, 2023.
(Photo/video credit: Elevation Pictures)
From Academy Award winning writer/director Sofia Coppola and starring Jacob Elordi and Cailee Spaeny. PRISCILLA – In Theaters Everywhere November 3, 1023 via Elevation Pictures and A24.
Synopsis:
When teenage Priscilla Beaulieu meets Elvis Presley at a party, the man who is already a meteoric rock-and-roll superstar becomes someone entirely unexpected in private moments: a thrilling crush, an ally in loneliness, a vulnerable best friend. Through Priscilla’s eyes, Sofia Coppola tells the unseen side of a great American myth in Elvis and Priscilla’s long courtship and turbulent marriage, from a German army base to his dream-world estate at Graceland, in this deeply felt and ravishingly detailed portrait of love, fantasy, and fame.
(Photo/video credit: Elevation Pictures)
From Writer/Director Sofia Coppola and starring Jacob Elordi and Cailee Spaeny, PRISCILLA is coming soon and here is your first Teaser for this A24 production, filmed right here in Toronto.
(Photo/video credit: A24)
Just having wrapped production in Toronto, Sofia Coppola‘s upcoming PRISCILLA centers on Priscilla Presley and her marriage to Elvis and time living at Graceland. Coppola writes, directs and products. To be distributed by A24, the Film is based on the Memoir Elvis and Me, and stars Cailee Spainey (Mare of Eastown) and also Jacob Elordi (Euphoria). PRISCILLA began filming in Toronto late October, wrapping this past week before continuing prodution in Los Angeles. Just based on A24 being such a force at the Toronto International Film Festival this year, we’re wondering if they might have their sights on the Festival Circuit too with this one!
You already know how much we love HBO‘s Mare of Eastown and Euphoria so it should come as no surprise how excited we were to meet both Spainey and Elordi. We’re so lucky to have hosted this production in our City with filming spanning all parts of the City including Mississauga to downtown! We loved Baz Luhrmann‘s ELVIS and cannot wait to see Coppola explore Priscilla Presley‘s (who happens to be producing this also) perspective and experience next.
Elordi was just so amazing, and we spotted him with his Golden Retriever named Layla, who was on her best behaviour. How cool is it that he was sporting a PRISCILLA sweatshirt with a print of the Script cover? And Spainey was just absolutely sweet and surprised even to be recognized, donning a Supreme Beanie. The emerging star actually has been here before, having filmed 2020’s The Craft: Legacy here in Toronto. Her plate is rather full and coming-up for her, is Alex Garland‘s upcoming Civil War, alo starring Kirsten Dunst and Wagner Moura filmed partly in the U.S. and U.K.
Just earlier this week another Euphoria star was in Toronto. More here.
See some Snaps:
(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)
Sofia Coppola is back with ON THE ROCKS, reuniting her with Bill Murray! Rashida Jones stars as a woman who becomes growingly-suspicious of her husband cheating on her and at the insistence of her father (Murray), investigates!
Synopsis:
A young New York mother faced with sudden doubts about her marriage teams up with her larger-than-life playboy father to tail her husband. What follows is a sparkling comic adventure across the city – drawing father and daughter closer together despite one detour after another. Acclaimed filmmaker Sofia Coppola brings a light touch to this blend of an exuberant love letter to New York, a generation-clash comedy about how we see relationships differently from our parents, and a funny celebration of the complications that bind modern families even as they tie us in crazy knots.
Laura (Rashida Jones) thinks she’s happily hitched, but when her husband Dean (Marlon Wayans) starts logging late hours at the office with a new co-worker, Laura begins to fear the worst. She turns to the one man she suspects may have insight: her charming, impulsive father Felix (Bill Murray), who insists they investigate the situation. As the two begin prowling New York at night, careening from uptown parties to downtown hotspots, they discover at the heart of their journey lies their own relationship.
See the Trailer:
ON THE ROCKS arrives on Apple TV+ in October.
(Photo/video credit: Apple TV+)
Universal Pictures Canada x Mr. Will want to give Readers in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver a chance to see Sofia Coppola‘s THE BEGUILED on Monday, June 26, 2017.
Synopsis:
World-premiering at the 2017 Cannes International Film Festival. “The Beguiled” is an atmospheric thriller from acclaimed writer/director Sofia Coppola. The story unfolds during the Civil War, at a Southern girls’ boarding school. Its sheltered young women take in an injured enemy soldier. As they provide refuge and tend to his wounds, the house is taken over with sexual tension and dangerous rivalries, and taboos are broken in an unexpected turn of events.
See the Trailer:
Artwork:
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Universal Pictures Canada release THE BEGUILED Friday, June 30, 2017.
(Photo/video credit: Universal Pictures Canada)
Definitely one of the Films we’re most stoked about this year, Sofia Coppola‘s (Lost in Translation, The Virgin Suicides) The Bling Ring soon will see its release, after making a splash in Cannes! See what Critics are raving about already here. I saw it earlier this week and agree, it’s one of this Summer’s best.
And there couldn’t be a better fit than right here with all my Celebrity-obsessed Readers! Mr. Will Wong & eOne Films are thrilled to give you all a chance to attend Advance Screenings of The Bling Ring across Canada! Screenings take place at the following venues on Wednesday, June 19, 2013:
The Docu-Drama based on true events, centers around a group of Teens who mastermind the burglary of several Celebrities. Katie Chang, Israel Broussard, Leslie Mann, Taissa Farmiga, Katie Chang and Emma Watson star.
See the amazing Trailer below:
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Good luck. Your deadline is Friday, June 14, 2013.
If that weren’t enough, one lucky Reader gets a Deluxe THE BLING RING Prize Pack including Poster, Soundtrack and Book! Get it, Wongsters!
eOne Films releases The Bling Ring in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Halifax, Victoria on June 21, 2013.
(Photo/video credit: A24/eOne Films)
This delights me so! After premiering earlier today at the Cannes Film Festival, Sofia Coppola‘s latest effort The Bling Ring, based on true events surrounding a group of Teens who masterminded the burglary of several Celebrity homes, debuts with plenty of praise! I admit, things were looking a bit iffy there with 2010’s plodding Somewhere.
Here’s what some of the Critics are saying about The Bling Ring:
“An unexpected pleasure” – The Guardian
“Sofia Coppola’s most provocative Film yet” – Entertainment Weekly
“The Parents are awful, the Teenagers are repulsive and the Celebrities are removed from reality, but no one gets away clean in Sofia Coppola‘s brilliant Movie” – The Wrap
“The acting is so authentic that it takes a while to differentiate the girls… As such, it will attain a certain stature itself as a Cultural Artifact but without stirring significant interest artistically or commercially.” – The Hollywood Reporter
“Though it lacks the name cast and self-consciously outre style of another recent girls-gone-wild opus, Spring Breakers, this lively and fascinating pic should score well with its target hipster demo…” – Variety
As an aside, we saw Coppola last week at the Met Gala in New York City with Marc Jacobs. More on that here!
Have you seen The Bling Ring‘s Trailer yet? Watch it here.
eOne Films releases The Bling Ring on June 21, 2013.
(Photo/video credit: A24)
Such a complete delight partaking in the festivities of the 2013 Costume Institute Gala (Met Gala) this year in New York City. The Gala celebrates the Metropolitan Museum‘s annual opening of the Fashion Exhibit at the Costume Institute, bringing together the Worlds of Film, Music and Fashion. Although it’s 6:00 AM and I have yet to sleep a wink, I’ve had a blast chasing the Stars and enjoying the Fashions, celebrating the theme of Punk! Although some were faithful to it, there were also several diversions, resulting in a large variety to the eye.
Yes, it was surreal being an arm’s length from Madonna who looked fun and edgy in her Cleopatra Hair and seeing Natalie Portman clash at once with her on the Red Carpet with her, only for her to acquiesce and let the reigning Queen of Pop shine in her metallic Givenchy Haute Couture Dress. I am still in awe of Beyoncé‘s marvelous Givenchy Gown, which drew the most applause from Onlookers who lined the streets for a glimpse outside the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA). Or how about getting an air kiss from this year’s Host Rooney Mara after telling her how much I admire her work? And I cannot deny how surreal it was seeing Sofia Coppola walk arm-in-arm with Marc Jacobs – two of my favourite People! Or how about witnessing a warm embrace between Girls Star/Writer/Producer Lena Dunham and equally brilliant Mindy Kaling? And did I mention I accidentally stepped-on Jessica Alba‘s dress?
The Parties continued well into the morning, with the main event taking place at The Standard Hotel, where the likes of Jennifer Lawrence, Rita Ora, Cara Delevingne, Madonna, Katy Perry, Carey Mulligan and a newly-blonde Anne Hathaway, stirred-up some madness. Lawrence in particular raised a frenzy among Fans and Paparazzi alike, zipping along with tactical speed into her SUV.
See a Montage below of Clips I took from the Evening. You won’t believe how crazy things got for Jennifer Lawrence!
(Photo/video credit: Mr. Will Wong)
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