Jacob Elordi didn’t quite go full bacon PB&Js to play Elvis Presley, but he did chow down on a pound of bacon per day to transform into the suave singer.
Elordi, who infamously revealed he learned about Elvis through watching “Lilo & Stitch,” stars in Sofia Coppola‘s “Priscilla” based on Priscilla Presley’s 1985 memoir “Elvis and Me.”
Writer-director Coppola told Entertainment Weekly in the below video that “Priscilla told us that Elvis liked really burnt bacon,” and Elordi took the tidbit to heart…and stomach.
“I averaged like a pound of bacon a day,” Elordi said. “It’s not that noticeable because I’m quite long. But I was the biggest I’ve ever been.”
Elordi co-starred alongside Cailee Spaeny who plays the titular Priscilla in the period piece. Coppola previously shared that Elordi “indulged” her in potentially raffling off a pickleball game to raise funds for the indie film.
“Our budget was always strained, low budget, and I was like, ‘I wonder if I could raffle off a pickleball game with Jacob to raise money to get one more day of shooting,’” Coppola told The Wall Street Journal. “We didn’t, but he was a good sport. He indulged me, even though he’s not an enthusiast. I think he associates it with, like, Malibu moms.”
Coppola said that she cast Elordi not from his breakout turn in “Euphoria” but rather due to his “same type of magnetism” as Elvis.
“He’s so sweet and humble as a person. I thought nobody was going to look quite like Elvis, but Jacob has that same type of magnetism,” Coppola said. “He’s so charismatic and girls go crazy around him, so I knew he could pull off playing this type of romantic icon.”
The controversial film caused Elvis and Priscilla’s daughter, the late Lisa Marie Presley, to reach out to Coppola after reading an initial draft of the script in September 2022. Lisa Marie alleged that Elvis “comes across as a predator and manipulative” especially with the love story beginning when Priscilla was 14 and Elvis was 24.
Coppola responded to Lisa Marie at the time, writing, “I hope that when you see the final film you will feel differently and understand I’m taking great care in honoring your mother, while also presenting your father with sensitivity and complexity.”
