Priscilla Presley recently got candid about her and Elvis Presley’s age gap, which has long been a controversial topic. The 78-year-old former wife of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll was in attendance at the Venice Film Festival to be part of the premiere of the new Sofia Coppola movie, Priscilla. The film follows Priscilla’s life, with a significant focus on her relationship with Elvis, which began for her at age 14, and for Elvis at age 24.
Speaking to a crowd at the festival, per EW, Priscilla shared, “It was very difficult for my parents to understand that Elvis would be so interested in me and I really do think because I was more of a listener.” She continued, “Elvis would pour his heart out to me, 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. I was a little bit older in life than in numbers and that was the attraction. And you know, people think, ‘Oh, it was sex…’ Not at all. I never had sex with him. He was very kind, very soft, very loving. But he also respected the fact that I was only 14 years old. We were more in mind and thought. And that was our relationship.”
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Priscilla left Elvis in 1972 after roughly eight years of marriage. Sadly, Elvis died four years later, in 1977. The couple shared one child, Lisa Marie Presley, who passed away in January.
Priscilla is a biographical drama film written, directed, and co-produced by Coppola. It’s based on the 1985 memoir Elvis and Me by Priscilla Presley and Sandra Harmon. Actress Cailee Spaeny (Mare of Easttown) portrays Priscilla, while Jacob Elordi (The Kissing Booth franchise) stars as Elvis. Additional cast members include Dagmara Domińczyk, Raine Monroe Boland, Emily Mitchell, Jorja Cadence, Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll, and Luke Humphrey.
Speaking about taking on the role of Priscilla, Spaeny confessed that it was “daunting,” then adding, “but I got very lucky to have some time with Priscilla.” She continued, “She was very generous with her time and very kind to me and supportive.” Elordi later offered, “The most impressive things to me is the scale of this love and the power of this love. And even to this day even though he’s not here, when you talk to Priscilla you can still feel the love.” Priscilla opens in theaters on Oct. 27.
