Summary
- "Priscilla" explores the drugs that Priscilla took and that Elvis gave her, shedding light on their relationship from her perspective.
- The accuracy of Elvis giving Priscilla drugs is debated, but the film is praised for not sugarcoating their story.
- The movie accurately portrays Elvis giving Priscilla sleeping pills and amphetamines, as mentioned in her memoir, but the LSD experience is slightly different from reality.
Sofia Coppola's Priscilla includes the drugs Priscilla took and what narcotics Elvis gave her throughout their relationship. Films about Elvis' life are fairly common, from Kurt Russell's performance in 1979 to Austin Butler's portrayal in the 2022 biopic, Elvis. Depictions of Priscilla aren't unheard of but usually aren't explicitly from her perspective. A notable example that focuses on her is the 1988 mini-series adaptation of her memoir, Elvis and Me.
Priscilla draws attention to her story again. The film stars Cailee Spaeny as the titular lead and Jacob Elordi as Elvis and chronicles the events from Priscilla's teens to just after her divorce from the musician. Priscilla's Elvis Presley representation is not intended to vilify the singer, despite backlash from the Elvis estate. With many positive reviews for Priscilla, particularly the fact that it doesn't sugarcoat, it's curious to look into the accuracy around the portrayal of Elvis giving Priscilla various drugs.
Elvis Gave Priscilla Sleeping Pills & Amphetamines While She Was Still In High School
In Priscilla, Jacob Elordi' Elvis gives her sleeping pills when she was in high school. According to Elvis and Me, Priscilla's 1985 memoir, Elvis gave her "two large, red pills" to help her sleep after her trip to Graceland for Christmas. Although unrecognizable to her, these were heavy-duty sleeping tablets, which in real life have the trade name Placidyl. On one occasion, detailed in the film and memoir, the Placidyl knocked her out for two days. This wasn't, however, the first time Priscilla had taken sleeping pills with Elvis and his friends in order to keep up with his schedule.
In addition to sleeping pills, Elvis also gave her amphetamines, namely Dexedrine, when she was in high school and before her trip to Graceland. This is true to the real story since Priscilla mentions in her memoir a time when she was struggling to stay awake and keep up with her school work. She says Elvis gave her a "handful of small, white pills" and wouldn't tell her what they were but just that they would give her energy when she was feeling drowsy.
Elvis & Priscilla Taking LSD Is Inspired By A Real Instance From The 1960s
Other drug use in the film includes Elvis and Priscilla taking LSD one night. Unlike in the movie, in real life this experience was with a group of friends. Additionally, Elvis made sure Sonny West, a fellow singer and his bodyguard, was nearby to supervise, as well as his spiritual advisor, Larry Geller, to see whether there were other planes of consciousness (via USA Today).
Priscilla describes the LSD experience as follows, "It was captivating, but I did not like the feeling. I thought: This isn’t real, be careful, you’re losing it. I tried to hang on to sanity." Because of this, she said she didn't do it again as it was too dangerous. While Coppola's version of events relating to Elvis and Priscilla's drug use may differ as a narrative means to strengthen the pair's bond, the discrepancies from real life aren't vast. Therefore, Priscilla is an apt depiction of the highs and lows of the legendary couple's relationship.
Priscilla is available in theaters everywhere.
Source: USA Today
FAQs
The accuracy of Elvis giving Priscilla drugs is debated, but the film is praised for not sugarcoating their story. The movie accurately portrays Elvis giving Priscilla sleeping pills and amphetamines, as mentioned in her memoir, but the LSD experience is slightly different from reality.
What are the pills Priscilla takes in the movie? ›
"Elvis' sleeping pill was Placidyl, a 'sedative-hypnotic,' essentially a knockout pill for short-term use," she says. "Priscilla told me when I interviewed her that she spent two days in Elvis' bedroom that Christmas in a Placidyl-induced coma." "Priscilla" also depicts the couple experimenting with LSD together.
What did they put on the sugar cube in Priscilla? ›
, her new film about Presley's wife, there's a psychedelic scene during which the couple consumes sugar cubes dosed with liquid acid. It really happened.
What did Elvis Presley do to Priscilla? ›
In her memoir, Priscilla details the psychological and physical abuse Elvis caused her during their nearly 15 years together. Many of those incidents appear in Priscilla, including the moment in which Elvis throws a chair at her after she criticizes a song he had been asked to record.
How accurate was the Priscilla movie? ›
Priscilla true story: How accurate is the film? Based on the available sources, it appears that the film is a broadly accurate though naturally incomplete account of Elvis and Priscilla's relationship from their first meeting in 1959 – when Priscilla was just 14 – to their divorce in 1973.
What are the pills Stansfield takes? ›
He is a classical music enthusiast who likens his killings to the works of Beethoven. Throughout the film, he takes a drug in capsule form that appears to be Librium, an early benzodiazepine.
What did Elvis call Priscilla? ›
“Elvis, with his history of baby talk, already had four hard-to-take nicknames for Priscilla,” Fortas added. “'Nungen,' which was an affectionate twist on 'young one,' 'Cilla,' 'Little One,' and the one he began using with increased frequency, now that its former owner didn't need it anymore: 'Satnin. '”
What watch did Elvis give Priscilla? ›
She played his love interest in the movie, and Bonhams said Elvis gave her the watch as a token of his affection after filming wrapped in 1967 but before he wed Priscilla Presley in Las Vegas. The Baume & Mercier timepiece is 14-karat gold with diamonds in a crescent moon shape spanning from 7 o'clock to 2 o'clock.
Was the movie Priscilla filmed at Graceland? ›
Much of the movie was shot in Toronto, and for the Graceland exterior, the film's production designer clad an existing home with stone and shutters to appear like the real Graceland. The lighting and abundance of textiles in the first floor of Graceland give the downstairs space a dream-like quality.
What is the substance in a sugar cube? ›
C12H22O11 – sucrose – in its pure form is most often prepared as a fine, white, odorless crystalline powder with a sweet taste. It is a carbohydrate composed of glucose and fructose, and is derived from such plants as sugar cane and sugar beet.
On Thursday, the medical examiner's office ruled that she died of natural causes and said that the cardiac arrest was caused by a "small bowel obstruction". This occurs when the small intestine is blocked, sometimes as a result of colon cancer, medication or adhesions (scar tissue) that form after surgeries.
Did Priscilla go to Elvis funeral? ›
At the funeral, though, they were able to find common ground. Priscilla shared why she felt a genuine connection with Olsson. Thousands of mourners came to Graceland to pay their respects to Elvis during his funeral. Priscilla watched, moved by the way her ex-husband had touched all these lives.
What pills was Priscilla taking in the movie? ›
The accuracy of Elvis giving Priscilla drugs is debated, but the film is praised for not sugarcoating their story. The movie accurately portrays Elvis giving Priscilla sleeping pills and amphetamines, as mentioned in her memoir, but the LSD experience is slightly different from reality.
How much taller was Elvis than Priscilla? ›
How Tall Is Priscilla Presley Compared to Elvis? Priscilla is 5'4" tall. That makes her and Elvis's height difference eight inches. Priscilla notes in her memoir "Elvis & Me" that Elvis loved baby talk and used nicknames like "Cilla" and "Little One" for her all the time.
Did Priscilla keep her wedding ring? ›
The businesswoman cleared up the mystery in 2014 with a Q&A-style status update. “Q. Do you still have your wedding ring? Would be lovely to see the design. A. Yes I do.
What are the pills Beth takes? ›
This green pill is called xanzolam in the Netflix series, though it is likely a fictional version librium or chlordiazepoxide, which was a new pill in the 1960s when The Queen's Gambit is set—it was approved for medical use in 1960.
What are the pills Carol is taking? ›
She's taking these expired caffeine pills, just popping them, and that might have started before this conflict with the zombies started. So it really all came out of wanting to show in a visceral way what it feels like to just have this unrelenting thing coming at them.
What are the pills in misery? ›
Is Novril a real medication? No. Novril is a a fictional medication made up for the story. It's described in the book as a powerful, highly addictive analgesic, the main ingredient being codeine.
What was the point of the Priscilla movie? ›
Through Priscilla's eyes, Sofia Coppola tells the unseen side of a great American myth in Elvis and Priscilla's long courtship and turbulent marriage, from a German army base to his dream-world estate at Graceland, in this deeply felt and ravishingly detailed portrait of love, fantasy, and fame.
