Though Priscilla Presley was not initially part of the Venice Film Festival press conference to discuss Sofia Coppola’s biographical drama about her relationship with Elvis Presley, she jumped in on the conversation when asked what it was like to see her life portrayed on screen.
“It’s very difficult to sit and watch a film about you, about your life, about your love,” Priscilla Presley began as tears welled in her eyes. After taking a moment to collect herself, she continued: “Sofia did an amazing job. She did her homework, we spoke a couple of times and I really put everything out for her that I could.”
“Priscilla” shows her relationship with Elvis from their very first meeting, when Priscilla was only 14. As she is whisked away into his world, Priscilla comes of age and finds her voice. However, she insisted at the press conference that Elvis did not take advantage of her youth.
“It was very difficult for my parents to understand that Elvis would be so interested in me and why,” she said. “And I really do think because I was more of a listener. Elvis would pour his heart out to me in every way in Germany: his fears, his hopes, the loss of his mother — which he never, ever got over. And I was the person who really, really sat there to listen and to comfort him. That was really our connection. Even though I was 14, I was actually a little bit older in life — not in numbers. That was the attraction. People think, ‘Oh, it was sex.’ No, it wasn’t. I never had sex with him. He was very kind, very soft, very loving, but he also respected the fact I was only 14 years old. We were more in line in thought, and that was our relationship.”