- Title: Kevin Spacey, Michael Shannon potray the odd encounter between Elvis and Nixon
- Date: 19th April 2016
- Summary: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (APRIL 18, 2016) (REUTERS) ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** VARIOUS OF ACTOR KEVIN SPACEY ON RED CARPET (SOUNDBITE) (English) KEVIN SPACEY, SAYING: "This was kind of great because this event, this meeting between Elvis and President Nixon happened in 1970. So, this was actually years before he started taping in the White House, and many years before the scandal of Watergate. So, it was kind of nice to play a Nixon that was not saddled by all of that. And also this was a very private encounter and so it was interesting to play a Nixon that was about a public address or a public meeting but something that is quite intimate, quite private." VARIOUS OF ACTOR MICHAEL SHANNON ON RED CARPET (SOUNDBITE) (English) MICHAEL SHANNON, SAYING: "I started at the beginning, I started with his childhood. I spent a lot of time with Jerry Schilling who is played in the film by Alex Pettyfer. And I went back to Memphis with Jerry and I went to all their childhood stomping grounds and I got a sense who Elvis was before he became Elvis and that is how I started." MORE OF SHANNON ON RED CARPET (SOUNDBITE) (English) MICHAEL SHANNON, SAYING: "Yes, it is very challenging there is no doubt about that. I mean, nobody can be Elvis, there is only one Elvis. But I thought the story was worth telling and that is why I did it." VARIOUS OF JERRY SCHILLING, FRIEND OF ELVIS PRESLEY, ON RED CARPET (SOUNDBITE) (English) JERRY SCHILLING, FRIEND OF ELVIS PRESLEY, SAYING: "He played my friend from the inside he really studied the personality. He, I gave him tapes that nobody else had heard before and he had Elvis' personal voice, mannerisms. He took the comedic role very seriously." VARIOUS OF ACTOR ALEX PETTYFER, WHO PORTRAYS SCHILLING IN FILM, ON RED CARPET VARIOUS OF DIRECTOR LIZA JOHNSON ON RED CARPET (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR LIZA JOHNSON, SAYING: "When I first decided to do it, we didn't have Kevin (Spacey) yet, so I didn't know about him. But just simply from the way that the story shows that Nixon doesn't understand why he should meet Elvis, I just was very charmed by that. It made me feel this big gap in history that the relationship between entertainment and politics was so different than it is now."
- Embargoed: 3rd May 2016 03:48
- Keywords: President Nixon Tribeca Film Festival Elvis Presley Michael Shannon Kevin Spacey Elvis & Nixon
- Location: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
- City: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Film
- Reuters ID: LVA0014E1885P
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Kevin Spacey and Michael Shannon premiered their latest film "Elvis & Nixon" at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York on Monday (April 18).
The film tells the story about the odd encounter between the King of Rock 'n' Roll and President Richard Nixon in 1970 in the White House. Their meeting is forever immortalized in a photograph which is the most requested picture in the National Archives.
The actual encounter took place on December 21, 1970, when Elvis showed up unannounced at the Northwest Gate of the White House with his buddy Jerry Schilling.
Elvis' goal: convincing President Nixon to deputize him as a federal agent-at-large.
The film hilariously highlights the unlikely meeting between rocker and politician, dramatized by actors Kevin Spacey and Michael Shannon.
Two-time Academy Award-winner Spacey is in the role of Nixon, and said that the fact that the humorous encounter took place years before Nixon's infamous Watergate scandal was appealing to him.
"It was kind of nice to play a Nixon that was not saddled by all of that. And also this was a very private encounter and so it was interesting to play a Nixon that was about a public address or a public meeting but something that is quite intimate, quite private," Spacey told Reuters.
Shannon, in the role of Elvis, said that it was hard to portray a figure whose life has been widely publicized.
"Yes, it is very challenging there is no doubt about that. I mean, nobody can be Elvis, there is only one Elvis. But I thought the story was worth telling and that is why I did it," he said.
In order to get a better understanding of the legendary rocker Shannon got the help from Elvis' personal friend and music industry insider Jerry Schilling.
"I went back to Memphis with Jerry and I went to all their childhood stomping grounds and I got a sense who Elvis was before he became Elvis and that is how I started."
Schilling said that Shannon did a great job portraying his friend.
"He played my friend from the inside he really studied the personality. He, I gave him tapes that nobody else had heard before and he had Elvis' personal voice, mannerisms. He took the comedic role very seriously," he praised.
Director Liza Johnson, found the fact that President Nixon didn't understand why he should meet with Elvis intrigued her into spearheading this project.
"Just simply from the way that the story shows that Nixon doesn't understand why he should meet Elvis, I just was very charmed by that. It made me feel this big gap in history that the relationship between entertainment and politics was so different than it is now."
Elvis & Nixon is part of Tribeca Film Festival, that runs from April 13-24. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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