Lisa Marie Presley was not pleased with Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla movie — or the script’s depiction of father Elvis Presley — earlier than her loss of life.
“My father only comes across as a predator and manipulative,” Lisa Marie wrote in a 2022 electronic mail to Coppola, 52, which was obtained by Variety on Thursday, November 2. “As his daughter, I don’t read this and see any of my father in this character. I don’t read this and see my mother’s perspective of my father. I read this and see your shockingly vengeful and contemptuous perspective and I don’t understand why?”
In a second electronic mail, Lisa Marie informed the director that she would “be forced to be in a position where I will have to openly say how I feel about the film and go against you, my mother and this film publicly” if Coppola went forward with the undertaking. The messages have been despatched 4 months earlier than Lisa Marie died in January after struggling a deadly cardiac arrest on the age of 54, in response to the outlet.
Priscilla — which is written, directed and produced by Coppola and stars Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi — tells the story of Elvis and Priscilla Presley’s romance, which started once they have been 24 and 14, respectively. The movie pulls inspiration from Priscilla’s personal 1985 memoir, Elvis and Me, recounting the twosome’s — at occasions tumultuous — relationship from her younger perspective.
What to Know About Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla Presley Biopic
Baz Lurhmann’s Oscar-nominated Elvis Presley biopic took the world by storm — however now it’s time for Priscilla Presley to shine. After Elvis dominated the 2022 awards season, Priscilla — which is written, directed and produced by Sofia Coppola — takes a unique strategy to Elvis and Priscilla’s love story. Premiering in November, the movie […]
The film was an official number of this 12 months’s Venice Film Festival earlier this 12 months, garnering important reward and incomes Spaeny, 25, a finest actress prize.
When it involves how Priscilla, 85, feels in regards to the movie, she informed audiences in Venice that Coppola “did an amazing job” and “really put everything out for her that I could.” Lisa Marie, nonetheless, shared in her emails that she feared her mom “isn’t seeing the nuance here or realizing the way in which Elvis will be perceived when this movie comes out.”
“I feel protective over my mother who has spent her whole life elevating my father’s legacy,” she wrote. “I am worried she doesn’t understand the intentions behind this film or the outcome it will have.”
Lisa Marie praised Baz Luhrmann’s 2022 Elvis biopic, which she known as “a break from suffering and a ray of light that hit us last year” that made 15-year-old twins Harper and Finley Lockwood “so proud and honored to be his granddaughters.” (Lisa Marie shared Harper and Finley with ex-husband Michael Lockwood. She was additionally mother to daughter Riley and son Benjamin, whom she shared with ex Danny Keough.)
“It made them feel blessed for a moment and less cursed in life,” she stated. “It made us all so proud because it was a true depiction of who he really was.”
Lisa Marie famous that Harper was despatched a commerce announcement about Priscilla going into manufacturing — and that her household was going to “have to endure another hit” of their lives from a “movie about her grandfather that is going to try to make him look really, really bad but it’s not true.”
“I had to explain that her beloved grandmother is supporting it,” she continued. “These two little girls have been through so much in the past 7 years, enduring my divorce and horrific custody battle and then losing their brother. We’ve all been drowning.”
She added that she didn’t perceive Coppola’s “need to attempt to take my father down on the heels of such an incredible film” by ” utilizing the excuse” of telling her mom’s story from Coppola’s “very dark and jaded reality.”
Coppola, for her half, revealed how she responded to Lisa Marie’s claims by a press release to Variety from her rep on Thursday. “I hope that when you see the final film you will feel differently and understand I’m taking great care in honoring your mother, while also presenting your father with sensitivity and complexity,” she wrote, per the outlet.
While Lisa Marie famous in her emails that Coppola ought to “understand” how she feels as a result of her personal well-known household — she is the daughter of legendary director Francis Ford Coppola — Sofia beforehand shared that her connection to the fabric is definitely what impressed make Priscilla within the first place.
The Presley Family’s Most Heartbreaking Tragedies: Elvis’ Death and More
Elvis Presley was a music icon by the years, and his household turned simply as legendary. The “Jailhouse Rock” crooner, who rose to fame in Nineteen Fifties, died in August 1977 on the age of 42. His solely daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, had been the one to find his passing earlier than calling his ex-girlfriend Linda Thompson. […]
“I was struck by how much I connected with it emotionally. I thought it was just going to be a fun adventure, and I was surprised by how relatable her story was,” she informed The Hollywood Reporter in August. “And I always like themes about finding one’s identity and teenage girls growing into adulthood.”
Sofia added that coming of age within the shadow of a public determine felt relatable to her personal expertise. “I know from my family what it’s like to be inside a show business family. I know that growing up, people are looking at you in a different way.” she stated.
Discussion about this post