Jacob Elordi Praises Austin Butler’s Elvis, Talks Getting Priscilla Presley’s Approval for ‘Priscilla’

Jacob Elordi is aware that he’s not the only young Hollywood star portraying Elvis Presley.

However, when the 26-year-old actor took on the role in Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla, he knew he didn’t want to tell the same story or be the same version of Elvis as Austin Butler was in Baz Luhrmann 2022’s Elvis. 

“It certainly crossed my mind briefly before I’d read the script,” he tells GQ about the back-to-back timeline of his and Butler’s films. Coincidentally, Butler is now dating Eloridi’s ex-girlfriend, Kaia Gerber. “I don’t want to tell the same story over, especially because he did such a fine job of portraying this man.”

In Priscilla — which is based on Priscilla Presley’s memoir of the same title — Elordi’s version of Elvis is darker. The film explores Elvis and Priscilla’s complex romance that began when she was a teen and he was an adult. The relationship lasted until their divorce in 1973. Elvis died on Aug. 16, 1977. He was 42.

“It’s a completely different thing,” he says of Priscilla. “And it’s terribly exciting, too, running into the fire a little bit. I can’t think of anything more exhilarating.”

Like Butler, Elordi admits that he stayed in the voice while he was on set and through the duration of the film. Unlike Butler, it didn’t stay with him when the film wrapped. 

“There’s all these layers and hoops that you have to jump through to get to that voice,” the Australian actor says of locking down the iconic Elvis voice. “So for me personally to be dropping out my voice and then coming in, it’s not going to work.”

Staying in character worked, as he got Priscilla’s seal of approval. 

“She said I got the voice right,” the Euphoria star tells the magazine. “Which was everything I needed to get.”

Another part of the process involved getting a little bit of Elvis’ physique. Though he didn’t have to commit fully to the bloat the “Hound Dog” singer had in his later years, Elordi was able to let his six pack abs go for the first time.

“It was the first time in my life that I ever had a gut,” he says. “Bacon. It was about a pound of bacon every day. And then when I’d go to Canada, it was poutine and hamburgers…. It’s really my pleasure. I could order Uber Eats and be like, ‘Should I get that burger after I’ve just had Italian? Yeah. Yeah, I will.'”

As if his talent wasn’t enough, according to Coppola, she casted Elordi because his charm mirrored the rock legend. Elordi credits a group of girls who swooned over him during his first meeting with the director for proving her point. 

“I think those girls might’ve done me a great service,” he tells GQ. 

Priscilla is currently in theaters and Elordi’s 28th annual Men of the Year GQ issue hits newsstands on Nov. 28. 

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