‘Agent Elvis’: Priscilla Presley says Netflix series captures the King’s ‘sick sense of humor’; portrays him as government spy
“Elvis had kind of a sick sense of humor,” co-creator Priscilla Presley revealed at a screening for “Agent Elvis” at the Netflix Tudum Theater on March 7. She was joined by co-creator John Eddie and showrunner Mike Arnold for a special Q&A. In the animated series, Elvis Presley trades in his white jumpsuit for a jet pack when he is covertly inducted into a secret government spy program to help battle the dark forces that threaten the country he loves — all while holding down his day job as the King of Rock and Roll. Watch the trailer below.
Despite the wild storylines of each episode, Eddie revealed they’re all “based in some form of Elvis’ life. He said he always wanted to be the hero in the comic book. That was why we made it as opposed to doing a live action thing. We specifically wanted to do animated. I’ve been a big Elvis fan since I was a little kid. Even as great as anybody does it, they can never capture Elvis’ look. He was such a beautiful man.”
Matthew McConaughey voices the icon in this not-for-kids cartoon. “He’s got that Southern voice,” Presley said. “That deep voice. We discussed other people, but Matthew just kept coming into mind. He’s such a professional and we knew he would do a great job speaking for Elvis. I loved him in it. He has that Southern drawl. Elvis did too in many ways.”
SEE Matthew McConaughey is the King in Netflix’s ‘Agent Elvis’
The ensemble cast also includes Kaitlin Olson, Don Cheadle, Johnny Knoxville, Niecy Nash, Presley as herself and Tom Kenny as Elvis’ drugged out chimpanzee, Scatter. “From episode to episode we made a very deliberate attempt to create our own vocabulary for each character,” said Arnold. “Every character has their own voice and they’re all singing together in their own way.”
Presley says the most memorable experience working on the show was simply going over the script and “making sure it was right. The most memorable thing I think is Scatter though. Scatter is to be remembered. Scatter did all those things. Scatter escaped. Scatter went into peoples’ windows. I was there when that happened. We had a place in Bel Air and he escaped a lot and the neighbors wanted us to get rid of him. Can you imagine him peeking in their windows and they’re like, ‘What is this creature? Get him out of here!’ Scatter is the real deal.”
“Agent Elvis” will be available to stream on Netflix on March 17.
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