According to director Baz Luhrmann, Elvis Presley's only child was 'very worried' about the Austin Butler-starring movie but she eventually 'embraced' it when it came out.
- January 31, 2023
AceShowbiz - Lisa Marie Presley was anxious about the "Elvis" biopic before she died. The late singer - who was the daughter of Elvis Presley and his then-wife Priscilla Presley - passed away after suffering a cardiac arrest at the age of 54, just six months after Baz Luhrmann's biopic about the music legend was released and now the 60-year-old director has revealed that she eventually "embraced" the project and that its lead actor Austin Butler "meant so much" to her.
"She was very worried about the movie. And when she saw it, she embraced it so deeply. She made us all family… Right now, it's so raw and recent. All I can say is we miss her deeply. She was here to see the film and it meant a lot to her I know that, and Austin meant so much to her - I know that," he said.
The Academy Award-winning moviemaker went on to add Lisa felt as if the biopic had put her father - who died of a heart attack at the age of 42 in 1977 - back in his "rightful place" and reflected on how "moving" the funeral service for the tragic songstress was.
He told ExtraTV, "She had felt like her father through the film had been put back in his rightful place. It meant a lot to us, actually. It was deeply moving and it was incredibly beautiful as well. So much love and sadness at the same time."
Baz previously explained that the former "Zoey 101" star landed the role of Elvis partly because of Hollywood actor Denzel Washington. He said, "He walked in and he had already been down the Elvis road a bit… Denzel Washington rang me. And I don't know Denzel. He said… 'You're about to meet a young actor whose work ethic is like no other actor I've ever met. You won't believe how hard he works,' and that came true."
