Sofia Coppola drew from her own experiences in telling the story of Priscilla Presley.
The “Priscilla” director is on the new cover of W Magazine, and in it she opened up about bringing the story of Elvis’ wife to the big screen.
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“By day, Priscilla went to Catholic school in Memphis for her senior year, and at night she would party with Elvis,” Coppola said. “I found that reality fascinating: She wasn’t allowed to have friends over to Graceland, and she’d hear other girls whispering about her. She was so isolated.
She continued, “It was strangely relatable: In my 20s, I remember having a crush on a guy, and part of it was, if I was with him, then I wouldn’t have to develop an identity of my own: I could just be the girlfriend of this guy, and that would be so much easier. I was devastated when that relation- ship didn’t work out.”
Coppola added, “But it forced me to find my own personality, and that’s a similar story to what happened with Priscilla—she lost herself in Elvis.”
The director also talked about her father, “The Godfather” director Francis Ford Coppola, casting her in his own films while she was growing up.
“I had a small part in ‘Rumble Fish’…I played the bratty younger sister. My father cast me because I was around, and he loved to include his family in his work,” she recalls. “Rob Lowe was in ‘The Outsiders’, and he and his girlfriend at the time, Melissa Gilbert, took me out for ice cream to Rumpelmayer’s when we were back in New York.”
“Priscilla” opens in theatres Nov. 3.