Jacob Elordi channeled his inner Elvis Presley by munching on the King of Rock and Roll’s favorite food.
“I averaged like a pound of bacon a day,” Elordi, 26, said in Entertainment Weekly’s Around the Table video series on Wednesday, November 1. “It’s not that noticeable because I’m quite long. But I was the biggest I’ve ever been.”
Elordi snagged the role of Elvis in Sofia Coppola’s biopic about the late musician’s wife, aptly titled Priscilla, which is based on Priscilla’s memoir, Elvis and Me. Cailee Spaeny is starring in the film’s titular role which premieres on Friday, November 3. While filming the project, Coppola, 52, revealed that Priscilla, 78, shared insight on the singer’s go-to favorite breakfast.
“Priscilla told us that Elvis liked really burned bacon,” Coppola explained in the clip.
In addition to speaking with Priscilla herself about her memories, the film’s team also had access to some of the family’s home movies and photographs.
“Probably the most helpful part was ignoring the mythology and trying to find out where the real person lies in that,” Elordi shared. “We had the freedom of going to a place where he wasn’t so well documented, behind closed doors, so I could play with it a little bit and try to make it a bit more grounded and attempt to make it sound more human.”
Elordi is the second actor to portray Elvis in recent history, taking on the role just one year after Austin Butler starred as the rockstar in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis. After learning Elordi was set to play another version of Elvis, Butler, 32, wished the Euphoria actor “all the best.”
While preparing for the role, Butler hired a movement coach, a dialect coach, an acting coach and a singing coach. His efforts ultimately paid off as he won a Golden Globe for his performance.
Elordi had a different approach. He teased during an October episode of the Tonight Show that before he snagged the role of Elvis, the most he knew about the legendary musician came from Disney’s Lilo Stitch. Despite not feeling confident about his knowledge of Elvis, he auditioned anyway.
“Sofia had sent me these sides that said Elvis, and I kinda just was like, ‘There’s no chance that this is happening,’” the actor recalled to Jimmy Fallon. “I watched this clip of him when he came back from the Army in Germany and read the lines for like 15 minutes and then shot two takes not thinking it would go anywhere.”
Coppola was clearly impressed as Elordi ultimately snagged the role.
Priscilla hits theaters on November 3.
