Elvis Presley’s Daughter Lisa Marie Presley Said This About the 'Priscilla' Script Before Her Death

Ahead of her tragic death, Lisa Marie Presley expressed deep concerns and distress over the portrayal of her beloved father, Elvis Presley, in the script of Sofia Coppola’s film Priscilla. The late Lisa Marie’s emails showcased her emotional turmoil and the state of shock she felt regarding the character's depiction, urging the director to reevaluate her vision for the script. Lisa Marie’s message mirrored deep reservations about the script’s portrayal of her father, with her calling it 'shockingly vengeful and contemptuous,' as per Variety. 

In this series of emails, Lisa Marie made her stance clear, indicating that she would openly oppose the film’s content and challenge both the director and her mother publicly. According to HuffPost, the film, released in November, revolves around Priscilla’s memoir and navigates her relationship with Elvis when she was just 14 and he was 24, a controversial matter that has triggered discussion and critique.

The sensitive portrayal of her father, Elvis, a global superstar, deeply worried Lisa Marie; she feared that the film might malign her father's legacy. She remarked, “My father only comes across as a predator and manipulative,” she wrote. “As his daughter, I don’t read this and see any of my father in this character. I don’t read this and see my mother’s perspective of my father. I read this and see your shockingly vengeful and contemptuous perspective, and I don’t understand why?”

Coppola, the film’s director, responded to Lisa Marie’s concerns by assuring her [Lisa] that she [Coppola] took 'great care in honoring your mother, while also presenting your father with sensitivity and complexity.' As per the reports by E! News, the heartfelt messages from Lisa Marie also underscored the emotional strain her family has endured.

Lisa Marie wrote to the director about a notice her child, Harper Lockwood, had received about the movie and said, “I had to explain that we are going to have to endure another hit in our lives. That there is going to be a movie about her grandfather that is going to try to make him look really, really bad but it’s not true. I had to explain that her beloved grandmother is supporting it. These two little girls have been through so much in the past 7 years, enduring my divorce and horrific custody battle and then losing their brother. We’ve all been drowning.”

While Priscilla has accumulated positive reviews, the depiction of the relationship between Priscilla and Elvis has garnered substantial interest and discussion. The film was praised for its compelling narrative, but it has also faced criticism due to its portrayal of the relationship’s specific age difference between a 14-year-old Priscilla and the music icon.

Lisa Marie’s concerns were expressed months before her untimely passing. She asserted to Coppola, the child of five-time Academy Award-winning director Francis Ford Coppola, “I would think of all people that you would understand how this would feel." The now-deceased songwriter also pledged to “go against you, my mother, and this film publicly." The conversation around the portrayal of the Presley family in Priscilla continues till date, emphasizing the delicate balance to be struck between artistic portrayal and protecting a family's legacy.