“He was very kind…very loving.”
Every year, the Venice Film Festival provides at least one moment that lights the internet on fire. Last year, the festival’s main highlights (besides the films, of course) centered squarely upon the highly chaotic behind-the-scenes drama with the Don’t Worry, Darling cast. This year, one of the major moments to come out of the festival took place during a press conference for Priscilla. The biopic, helmed by director Sofia Coppola and based on Priscilla Presley’s memoir of her marriage to Elvis, has been hailed as one of the big movies to watch this year — and while the film is garnering plenty of buzz on its own, it was the comments made by Presley herself that sent the internet abuzz this weekend.
At the press conference for Priscilla, the real-life inspiration for the film was able to speak for a few minutes about a range of juicy topics, including how she felt about Coppola’s work, and what it was like to be dating the most famous man in the world when she was only 14 years old.
Here’s what Presley had to say.
Priscilla addresses the controversy around her marriage to Elvis: “He was very kind”
During the conference, Presley was asked what it was like to be in love with Elvis as a teenager. She took the opportunity to address a decades-long controversy surrounding her romance with Elvis — namely, the fact that she was only 14 years old when they started dating. Elvis, on the other hand, was 24 years old at the time. They famously met at a party in Germany held by Elvis while he was serving in the army. Priscilla’s stepfather was also stationed in Germany for the Air Force at the time, which is how the two ended up at the same party.
“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 it was 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…Even though I was 14, I was actually a little bit older in life. Not in numbers. That was the attraction.”
As for what level of intimacy they engaged in when she was a teenager, Presley was adamant about one crucial point: They never had sex until she was 18, when they were married.
“People think, ‘Oh, it was sex,'” she said. “Not at all. 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. I don’t know why he put so much trust in me, but he did.”
Presley went on to praise her ex-husband for his work as a father, friend, and co-parent. “[After the divorce], we still remained very close. We had our daughter [Lisa Marie], and I made sure he saw her all the time. It was like we never left each other.”
What does Priscilla Presley think about the new film Priscilla?
During the conference, Presley also shared her experience watching a film based on her own life. “It’s very difficult to sit and watch a film about you, about your life, about your love,” she said. She went on to clarify that she was very happy with how the film had turned out. “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.”
Ahead of the film’s October release, Presley also spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about the understandable anxiety that comes with sharing her story to the world. “I’m so nervous because it’s my life,” she said. “The people who are watching, they’re living it with you, and you hope and pray that they get it. They get your feelings, your hurts, your sensitivity.”
“When I saw the movie, I tried to separate myself and live it as if I was just a fan or just someone that’s wanting to see the movie,” she added. “At the end, I actually, I was quite emotional. Only being 14. You look back and you go, ‘Why me? Why am I here? Why am I driving in a limo, going through the gates of Graceland with Elvis?’”
