Jacob Elordi’s Elvis Portrayal In New Priscilla Trailer Has Got People All Shook Up
The Jacob Elordi era is upon us, and many people on social media are totally here for it ― even if not everyone agrees.
It all started on Tuesday when film production company A24 released the trailer for Priscilla, which is based on the life of Priscilla Presley (played by Cailee Spaeny) and her troubled marriage to Elvis.
The pair’s controversial relationship has faced heavy scrutiny in recent years given that Priscilla met Elvis when she was 14 and he was 24. The singer later tied the knot with a 21-year-old Priscilla in 1967, when he was 32. The two eventually divorced in 1973.
More than a dozen movies about Elvis have been released over the years, but what caught people’s eye on social media was the fact that the movie comes out just a year after Austin Butler took on the role of the multiplatinum artist in 2022’s Elvis.
While Austin’s performance in Baz Luhrmann’s biographical music drama earned him an Oscar nod, users on X (formerly known as Twitter) seem prepared to erase all on-screen memories of the actor simply based on snippets of Jacon’s performance in the Priscilla teaser.
People have been quick to praise the Euphoria alum’s spot-on Southern drawl and overall demeanour as the Memphis legend, and comparisons to Austin’s performance came in thick and fast:
jacob elordi’s elvis voice is better than austin butler’s pic.twitter.com/FMueQKZGab
— emma (@tropicoblues) October 3, 2023
Austin Butler really wasted 3+ years of his life cosplaying Elvis just for a year later Jacob Elordi come and do a better accent and better performance in general than he did https://t.co/AODfarALUc
— ST★RBOY (@ih8mydad) October 4, 2023
austin butler not letting go of that voice for MONTHS after elvis wrapped only for jacob elordi to do a better impression pic.twitter.com/sAt1fHsTIO
— mild fatty liver diesease survivor ✊???? (@scorpiiyo) October 3, 2023
Jacob Elordi ate Austin Butler up like a little cupcake https://t.co/d5DIEY8cG6
— Socratease (@renfairebarbie) October 4, 2023
Did Austin Butler's 3+ years as Elvis go to waste? Jacob Elordi's accent and performance seem to outshine it in just a year. Do you think so? ????pic.twitter.com/L8Orfmxc0l
— X News Updates (@UpdateXnews) October 4, 2023
Jacob Elordi is an accent king https://t.co/N11al0O2V7
— Bee???? (@Bee_Wils0n) October 3, 2023
i love them casting jacob elordi for elvis. not only is he a great actor who got the idiolect to a t, his towering height emphasizes how much OLDER elvis was when he began a relationship with—nay, groomed—priscilla.
— jianni ⍟ stuck in a mojo dojo casa house (@larajianni) October 4, 2023
i love sofia coppola https://t.co/QK8ZGzlUMq
Some noted that Jacob appears to have a knack for playing troubled characters.
If you’ve ever tuned into Euphoria, you know exactly the dark depths that his character Nate Jacobs reached while dealing with his obsession for control and violent tendencies.
if theres anything jacob elordi is gonna do its successfully play a toxic man https://t.co/65Rbkhu0Sk
— justine (@biticonjustine) October 3, 2023
Jacob Elordi is going to play Evil Elvis brilliantly. he is so good at playing unstable spoilt man baby. it will be excellent. This will, in no way (for me anyway), detract from Austin Butler’s STUNNING little-boy-lost Elvis that he did sooo flawlessly
— Stinky Spice (pride edition) (@sparklingpiss) October 3, 2023
One thing jacob elordi is gonna do is play a toxic ass man and he does it well.
— jordan (@jordansm2021) October 3, 2023
Jacob elordi trending bc the Priscilla trailer dropped and everyone is roasting Austin Butler’s performance cuz they sayin Jacob did it better off the trailer alone is KILLING me
— Angel’s Corner (@angelscorneryt) October 4, 2023
One thing JE gon do and do well tho is play a toxic ass mf ????
Others rushed to Austin’s defence, slamming the notion that Jacob could outdo his Oscar-nominated performance.
I mean the movie looks solid but I don’t think Jacob Elordi is beatin Austin Butler’s performance https://t.co/azl5kMCoQU
— hunter (@hunter_NYM) October 4, 2023
I’m sorry but it’s the truth Jacob elordi does NOT sound like Elvis and does NOT look like Elvis. Austin butler will always be THE ONE.
— Zoe :) ???? (@OrdunoZoe) October 4, 2023
the likes??? I’m sure Jacob Elordi’s great but why are y’all now pretending Austin Butler was bad in Elvis https://t.co/RzF2WCv6vX
— Cristian (@filmprcris) October 4, 2023
One X user pointed out that 2022’s Elvis and 2023’s Priscilla can’t really be compared, since both films have different focal points.
While Elvis chronicled the life of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll under the management of the audacious Colonel Tom Parker, Priscilla focuses on the woman he married.
the priscilla movie is not about elvis. the comparison of jacob elordi and austin butler doesn’t exist. the movies are different. talented actors.
— c (@presleysangel) October 4, 2023
side note though, the trailer did piss me off in a big way ????????♀️
Directed by Sofia Coppola, this new film is based on Priscilla Presley’s 1985 memoir Elvis and Me, which gives personal accounts of her relationship with Elvis.
Watch the trailer for yourself below: