On the 45th anniversary of his death, Priscilla Presley, the former wife of singer Elvis presley spoke about the new biopic āElvisā and his relationship with his manager Colonel Tom Parker.
Priscilla Presley spoke to āTodayā and praised the director of the film, Baz Lurhmann.
āI mean, what a great Movie. Baz Lurhmann I have to say is a genius. I donāt know anyone else who could have done this move like he did,ā she said.
Priscilla Presley said that she āwas a little concerned at firstā when she heard that Lurhmann would be doing the Movie.
āI actually met him. I invited him to my home. We spent about four hours together. He put me a little at ease, but still I didnāt know how it was gonna come out,ā she said.
She said she went to a private screening of the film with Jerry Schilling, who was a close friend of Elvis presley, and it left them speechless.
āAnd at the end we went, āWow, this is Elvis. Truly it is Elvis,ā she said.
Priscilla Presley also shared what the most difficult part was for her to see in the Movie.
āIt was about Colonel and Elvis and Elvisās dream to take his career further. He wanted to do movies and serious movies and Colonel Parker just he should have really probably stayed a publicist because he didnāt take Elvis where he wanted to be and that was hard because I lived it,ā she said.
Priscilla Presley added that she ālived the arguments that they hadā and āElvis trying to explain that he didnāt want to do the movies with all the girls and the beaches.ā
Elvis presley wanted to be a serious actor and she said āliving that with him and watching the Movie brought back a lot of memories.ā
Despite the difficult relationship between Elvis presley and the Colonel, Priscilla Presley has made peace with Parker.
āThere was two colonels. There was the colonel that was the manager and and thereās colonel that was very very sweet and very very nice,ā she said.
In 1977, Elvis presleydied from a heart attack. He was 42 years old.
Graceland, Elvis presleyās home, was opened to the public for tours in 1982 because of the efforts of Priscilla Presley and executors of his estate.
It has attracted over 20 million visitors from every state and nearly every country of the world, according to the Graceland website.
Speaking on keeping Elvis presleyās legacy alive, Priscilla Presley said, āItās a big responsibilityā but she wants āto carry it out and give him the things he always wanted to do and wanted in his life.ā
