Priscilla Presley Joins ‘Elvis’ Star Austin Butler at Met Gala

Priscilla Presley continued to show her full-throated support for the upcoming biopic about her ex-husband, Elvis Presley, by walking the 2022 Met Gala red carpet with actor Austin Butler. The Once Upon a Time in Hollywood breakout stars as the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll in Baz Luhrmann’s upcoming Elvis. Olivia DeJonge, who plays Priscilla in the film, joined Butler, Priscilla, and Luhrmann Monday afternoon outside New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.

During an interview with La La Anthony for Vogue‘s live stream, Priscilla, 76, praised Elvis. She said she “loves” the new movie and believes it should appeal to everyone, not just Presley super-fans. “Even the people who’ve heard stories about Elvis before, they’re gonna learn something,” Priscilla said, reports PEOPLE.

One of Butler’s goals for the film was to make Priscilla and Presley’s manager Jerry Schilling proud. “Making all the people who loved Elvis so much proud and doing [him] justice” was “really at the core of it all for me,” the Australian star said. “I just set out to find his humanity as much as I could and bring that out with as much life as much as I could.” Schilling also attended the Met Gala.

Austin Butler and Priscilla Presley

Priscilla has strongly supported Elvis, even giving the film her full endorsement on Facebook on April 29 after seeing an early screening. The movie tracks Presley’s rise and fall, with his relationship with Colonel Tom Parker at the center. Tom Hanks plays Parker while Luke Bracey plays Schilling. Kodi Smit-McPhee, Dacre Montgomery, David Wenham, Kevin Harrison Jr., Gary Clark Jr., Josh McConville, Helen Thompson, and Yola also star. Warner Bros. will release the film on June 24.

Priscilla with Olivia DeJonge and Austin Butler

“This story is about Elvis and Colonel Parker’s relationship. It is a true story told brilliantly and creatively that only Baz, in his unique artistic way, could have delivered,” Priscilla wrote on Facebook. “Austin Butler, who played Elvis, is outstanding. Halfway through the film Jerry and I looked at each other and said WOW!!! Bravo to him…he knew he had big shoes to fill. He was extremely nervous playing this part. I can only imagine.”

Priscilla with director Baz Luhrmann

“Tom Hanks was Col Parker in this film. What a character he was. There was two sides to Colonel, Jerry and I witnessed both,” Priscilla continued. “The story, as we all know, does not have a happy ending. But I think you will understand a little bit more of Elvis’ journey, penned by a [director] who put his heart and soul and many hours into this film.”

Priscilla with costume designer Catherine Martin, Jerry Schilling, and Baz Luhrmann

The Met Gala red carpet also marked another major milestone for Butler, 30. He made his first red carpet appearance with his girlfriend, model Kaia Gerber, 20. The two have been linked since December 2021, after Gerber and Euphoria actor Jacob Elordi split. Butler previously dated Vanessa Hudgens, who was at the Met Gala as Vogue’s live stream co-host.

Another photo of Priscilla and Austin Butler

This year’s Met Gala returned to May after last year’s event was postponed until September due to the coronavirus pandemic. The theme is “In America: An Anthology of Fashion,” with a focus on “gilded glamour.” Celebrities were meant to don fashion inspired by the Gilded Age, which covered 1870 to 1890. The theme is a continuation of last year’s In America: A Lexicon of Fashion.

Austin Butler and Kaia Gerber

Like past Met Galas, it is accompanied by a new Costume Institute exhibit. Andrew Bolton, head curator of the Museum of Modern Art’s Costume Institute, told Vogue Anthology “provides a historical context” for Lexicon.

“The stories really reflect the evolution of American style, but they also explore the work of individual tailors, dress-makers, and designers,” Bolton told Vogue. “What’s exciting for me is that some of the names will be very familiar to students of fashion, like Charles James, Halston, and Oscar de la Renta, but a lot of the other names really have been forgotten, overlooked or relegated into the footnotes of fashion history. So one of the main intentions of the exhibition is to spotlight the talents and contributions of these individuals, and many of them are women.”