Cailee Spaeny was seen filming the Priscilla Presley biopic Priscilla in Toronto on Monday alongside the film’s director Sofia Coppola.
The 25-year-old actress sported a brunette beehive hairstyle with a mint green sweater coat over a white button-up top. She completed the ensemble with a matching plaid skirt.
The Springfield, Mo., native donned retro brown and white shoes as she relaxed between takes of the period piece, which also stars Jacob Elordi as Elvis Presley.
The latest: Cailee Spaeny, 25, was seen filming the Priscilla Presley biopic Priscilla in Toronto on Monday alongside the film’s director Sofia Coppola, 51
The actress, who was seen on Devs, The First Lady and Mare of Easttown, plays the lead role in the film A24, which is based on Priscilla’s 1985 book Elvis and Me.
Coppola, 51, was seen snapping photos of classic cars on the set of the film. She kept herself warm in a dark navy knit cap with a puffy navy coat with denim blue jeans and white sneakers.
Principal photography for the biopic just started in Toronto just over a week ago on October 24th.
Born Priscilla Ann Wagner (transformed by adoption into Beaulieu) in 1945 and the daughter of a US Navy pilot, the New York native was only 14 when she caught the eye of Elvis Presley, then 24 years old, during his military service in Germany at the end of 1959.
Retro: The actress sported a brown beehive hairstyle with a mint green sweater over a white button-up top
Focused: The Springfield, Missouri native donned retro brown and white shoes as she relaxed between takes of the vintage piece
Background: The actress has been seen in Devs, The First Lady and Mare of Easttown
The couple finally married in 1967 and had a daughter, Lisa Marie, before separating in 1972 and divorcing the following year.
When looking for the actress to play Priscilla, Coppola was keen to try to find someone who would be able to play her both as a teenager and as a woman in her late twenties. And it turns out that Spaeny was his first choice from the start to adapt the story.
“The character goes from 15 to 27 over the course of the film, so she had to be able to act and age over a long period of time,” the 51-year-old filmmaker explained to vogue. “It was really important to me to have the same actress playing Priscilla at these different stages of her life, and I think Cailee can pull it off.” She’s such a strong actress, and she also looks very young.
Her Story: The new biopic, Priscilla, is based on Priscilla Presley’s New York Times bestselling memoir, Elvis And Me (1985); the 77-year-old is pictured in Beverly Hills on October 15
The King’s family: Elvis and Priscilla Presley married in 1967, then welcomed their daughter Lisa Marie Presley in February the following year
When it came to finding the young man who could embody Elvis Presley, Coppola knew it would be difficult to find someone who could come close to his incredible beauty and charisma.
But in the end, it was Elordi’s own charisma that helped him land the role.
“I thought nobody would really look like Elvis, but Jacob has the same kind of magnetism.” He’s so charismatic and the girls go crazy around him, so I knew he could pull off playing this type of romantic icon,’ the Lost In Translation writer and director revealed.
Different durations: Spaeny will play Priscilla at the age of 15 until her late twenties
There is no doubt that Coppola, who is also an executive producer, A24 and Sony Pictures are hoping to match or surpass the success of Luhrmann’s Elvis, which grossed $286 million worldwide at the box office on an $85 million budget. .
Priscilla Presley, 77, was a big supporter of the Elvis biopic, calling it “a brilliantly and creatively told true story that only Baz, in his unique artistic way, could have delivered”.
She also praised Butler’s performance, saying, “Bravo to him.” He knew he had big shoes to fill. He was extremely nervous playing this role. I can only imagine.’
Inspired by the story of Priscilla’s life as a teenager at Graceland in Memphis, Coppola compared her story to that of “Marie Antoinette”.
“The hardest part of writing the script was editing so many amazing details from Priscilla’s memoir,” she said. “I was interested in trying to imagine what it must have been like growing up in this world through his eyes.”