A24's Priscilla: Who Plays The Titular Priscilla Presley?

Writer-director Sofia Coppola returns this year with her first feature film since 2020's "On the Rocks." Her latest effort, A24's "Priscilla," is set to be released this October, and is already shaping up to be one of the biggest titles of the fall. Based on the 1985 memoir, "Elvis and Me" by Priscilla Presley and Sandra Harmon, the film promises to explore the real-life relationship between Elvis Presley and his wife, Priscilla. 

Unlike last year's "Elvis," though, which told the King of Rock and Roll's life story from the perspectives of both himself and his longtime manager, Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks), "Priscilla" is set to explore its eponymous heroine's high-profile marriage from her own point of view. That means whoever plays Priscilla Presley in the film will have to carry the bulk of its drama and emotional weight on her shoulders. Fortunately, Priscilla is played in the upcoming, Sofia Coppola-directed movie by none other than Cailee Spaeny, a young actor who has been slowly but surely making a name for herself in recent years as one of the more promising screen performers of her generation. 

Consequently, while "Priscilla" sees her taking on the biggest role of her career to date, the opportunity to actually lead a film has been a long time coming for Spaeny.

While she may not yet have achieved the same level of name recognition as some of her peers, Cailee Spaeny has spent the past few years working on a number of acclaimed films and TV shows. In 2018, she not only made her big-screen film debut in "Pacific Rim: Uprising," but went on to have noteworthy roles that same year in "Bad Times at the El Royale," "Vice," and "On the Basis of Sex." The latter three films received largely positive reviews and gave Spaeny the chance to prove her worth opposite actors like Dakota Johnson, Chris Hemsworth, Felicity Jones, Kathy Bates, and Jeff Bridges.

In the years since then, Spaeny has appeared on shows like "Devs," "Mare of Easttown," and "The First Lady." None of her previous movies or TV shows have offered her as big of a spotlight as "Priscilla," though, which may end up propelling the actor even further up the Hollywood ranks. While Spaeny herself hasn't yet commented on her role in "Priscilla," either, her co-star, Jacob Elordi, has had nothing but good things to say about his experience making the film.

"It was really nothing short of magic," Elordi recently told T Australia about getting to work with "Priscilla" writer-director Sofia Coppola. "She's a really beautiful, calm person. I just learned so much about filmmaking." Now, moviegoers only have a few more months to wait before they see the end result of Spaeny, Elordi, and Coppola's collaboration.