Four months after sending through an audition tape for the role of Priscilla Presley in Elvis, Olivia DeJonge had a sit-down meeting with her agent and tentatively asked him whether he had heard back about the Baz Luhrmann biopic. The Melbourne-born, Perth-raised 24-year-old wasn’t hopeful, but her agent “checked his phone and was like, ‘Olivia, do not scream.’” A new text simply read: “Olivia’s the choice for Elvis.” “It was crazy.” As a long-time fan of Luhrmann’s work, DeJonge remembers “feeling very intimidated” ahead of filming, but the director put her at ease. “He’s this sort of mad genius, who is very encouraging of play,” she says, smiling. With her star firmly in the ascendant, what are her hopes? “It can be easy to get lost in the sauce of Hollywood,” she says. “I just want to maintain a really beautiful, healthy relationship with the work.” Here, DeJonge reflects on shooting the long-awaited film with Austin Butler.

What can we expect from the Elvis film?

It’s an epic retelling of the life of Elvis Presley, and we’re all very, very excited for it to finally be hitting the big screen. We started it at the end of 2019, right before the pandemic, and obviously everything halted so it’s really exciting for it to be coming out now.

Were you already a fan of Baz Luhrmann’s?

Yeah, Romeo + Juliet is one of my favourite movies of all time. I studied it in Year 12 for my media exams. I adore Baz’s movies, the way that he immerses his audience – they’re in a league of their own. You can always tell a Baz movie from a still, and I think that’s really, really rare.

Did you have any preconceptions about what working with him might be like?

Not really. I didn’t know anybody that had worked with him before. It’s so different for him to adapt a biopic of somebody, too, because his movies are so fantastical. It’s really exciting for the movie to be told through him because he’s such a visionary – I think the life of Elvis is so dazzling and epic that he’s the best guy for it.

What were the highlights on set?

Watching Austin do the live performances was really incredible. He really threw himself into them, and it looked exactly like the real thing. We had a lot of moments where we were like, “This just feels like we’re watching Elvis in motion.”

How did you prepare to play Priscilla?

Given the nature of the story and the way that it’s been told, I really just wanted to make her grounded and real. Obviously, I watched a lot of interviews, but they were from when she was older, in her early 30s, whereas the film covers the years when she was 14 through to just after her divorce when she was about 27 or 28. And Baz really encouraged a lot of freedom to experiment. For me, it was just about playing a girl that really loved a boy.

Did you speak to her?

No, I didn’t, no.

What conclusions did you come to about who she was?

I think she was a girl that fell really in love with a boy and sort of gave up everything to support him in his dreams. I think she definitely got lost in that for a while. I’m glad that she got out of that – that marriage and that relationship, because I think it was very toxic for her, and I don’t think there was a lot of room for her to grow into her own human being and find herself. But I think it’s also amazing what she did, you know, after he passed, and how she really took over the estate and kept everybody afloat, you know? I respect her a lot.

Which characteristics did you focus on in your portrayal?

Honestly, I remember feeling very intimidated when I got the role, but if you strip it down, she was 21 or 22. I’m 23 now. I’ve been in love before, so I can understand what that’s like. It was really just about playing somebody supportive and full of life. I think oftentimes women are depicted as two-dimensional in cinema. I think it would have been easy to sit around and [flowery voice] talk like this. But that’s not what it was like. She was four-dimensional, not just this pretty picture to look at.

I read a section from Elvis and Me in which Priscilla talks about how Elvis saw her that way – as an image.

Exactly! Rather than as a full human being. So I think to play the full human being, as being right in front of him the entire time, but him not having the sort of space to see that, was important to me.

Tell me about the costumes.

[Costume designer] Catherine Martin, Baz’s wife and partner, is incredible. I mean, stepping into these costumes, that wig and make-up every day, it really made the rest of the job quite easy because it was so incredibly immersive. We had like 10 to 20 fittings at least. I love that style era, and I think it’s all coming back. The ’60s miniskirts with the high boots. I’m kind of excited for a bit of a renaissance that hopefully comes after the movie, you know? The reintroduction of the flares and flowing dresses and hairstyles. Since we wrapped, I’ve bought myself knee-high boots, and some cute little ’60s skirts. I’ve been experimenting more with make-up. I’ve got the lipliner now, and I know how to do all the dark make-up that she used to wear.

A few of Olivia DeJonge’s favourite things:

“I’m currently enjoying reading On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong.”

“Recently, I’ve been taking a lot of style inspiration from ’90s Kate Moss.”

“Lately, I’m loving Miu Miu. The miniskirts! The embellished jackets! The boots! They’re retro and fresh at the same time.”