Priscilla Presley’s memoir Elvis and Me, which the film was adapted from, was useful for approaching the emotions that the interiors needed to conjure in the film. “I wanted to evoke her memories and also Sofia’s feeling of what it should be—the Graceland that Priscilla perceived. Whereas the bedroom was more Elvis’s space, [the downstairs of] Graceland was really, in my mind, Priscilla’s dream—her vision,” Deverell explains.
Picking the proper colors for the interiors was essential in creating this dream-like quality in the Graceland of Priscilla, which transitions from a space of discovery and excitement for the central character into a gilded cage—as Deverell describes it—as the movie wears on. Rather than going with the pure white color that can be seen in the real Graceland’s downstairs living space, a warm white tone was chosen, which Deverell describes as an “icing on the wedding cake tone.” The pastel colors, abundance of soft textures, and diffuse lighting come together for an almost surreal atmosphere—apropos for the not-quite-reality quality of memory.
