During a recent appearance on “The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon,” Jacob Elordi revealed that his knowledge of Elvis Presley was limited to Disney’s “Lilo & Stitch” before he landed the role of the King of Rock and Roll in Sofia Coppola’s upcoming film “Priscilla.”
Elordi admitted, “The most I know of Elvis was in ‘Lilo & Stitch,’ which is a lot, by the way.”
For those unfamiliar with the film, “Lilo & Stitch” follows the story of Lilo and her friendship with an extraterrestrial creature, Stitch, whom she names and teaches to become a model citizen like Elvis Presley. The 2002 animated film features several of Presley’s hits and showcases Lilo’s love for the legendary singer.
When Elordi was asked about the pressures of playing Presley, he confessed that the singer hadn’t been on his list of people to portray. Elordi explained, “Sofia [Coppola] had sent me these sides that said Elvis, and I kind of was just like, ‘There’s just no chance that this is happening.’ So I watched this clip of him when he came back from the Army in Germany and I read the lines for like 15 minutes and then shot two takes, not thinking that it would go anywhere.”
To his surprise, Coppola liked Elordi’s audition and ultimately cast him in the role. Elordi shared, “The whole time I was trying to take [‘Priscilla’] like I was making ‘Blue Valentine’ or something, just like a straight-up relationship drama without Elvis and Priscilla, for Sofia Coppola. That was the goal.”
“Priscilla” is set to premiere in theaters on November 3rd.
