Riley Keough Cried Watching Baz Luhrmann's 'Elvis' with Mom Lisa Marie & Grandma Priscilla Presley

Riley Keough had an emotional response to Baz Luhrmann‘s new movie Elvis.

While speaking with Variety at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, where she’s set to debut her first movie as a filmmaker, the 32-year-old actress discussed her very personal ties to the film as the granddaughter of Elvis Presley.

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Riley shared that while Baz had spoken to her family while making the movie, she was never approached for a role, despite her similar appearance to grandmother Priscilla Presley and her mother Lisa Marie Presley.

She also revealed that when she cried alongside Lisa Marie and Priscilla when they watched the movie together.

“It was a very emotional experience. It’s very intense to watch when it’s your family,” Riley said. “The first movie I ever watched in the theater and said I wanted to make movies was Moulin Rouge, I was 12. It was a real honor to know Baz was doing this movie. Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge, for the age I was at the time, were really powerful. It wasn’t like I distrusted Baz in any way, but you’re protective over your family.”

She went on to say that the director had consulted her family for several hours before he started Elvis and they also gave him inside access to Graceland. But she also added, “At the end of the day, we’re not going to tell Baz Luhrmann how to make a movie.”

“In the first five minutes, I could feel how much work Baz and Austin [Butler] put into trying to get it right. That made me emotional immediately,” Riley said. “I started crying five minutes in and didn’t stop. There’s a lot of family trauma and generational trauma that started around then for our family. I felt honored they worked so hard to really get his essence, to feel his essence. Austin captured that so beautifully.”

When asked if she would’ve considered appearing in the film if Baz had asked, she replied: “It’s a little too close. It’s intense enough to watch, I don’t want to act in it. It was never a conversation. I think there was a boundary there that felt respected in a nice way.”

Elvis will hit theaters June 24. See the trailer here.