Elvis Presley starred in 31 feature films during his legendary career, and wife Priscilla Presley often joined him on set. Eventually, she began to imagine what it would be like to be in movies herself.
But that chance eventually coming in the Naked Gun series was a surprise few saw coming.
The beloved spoof films are back in the spotlight with Friday’s release of The Naked Gun, a legacy sequel starring Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson. Although she isn’t part of the new version, Presley, 80, played a crucial role in the success of the 1988 original—despite her lack of a comedy background.
At the time, Presley was an established TV star eager to prove she could command the big screen. However, the few opportunities she did receive—most notably to become the next “Bond girl”—didn’t pique her interest.
Ultimately, Presley’s discretion led her out of her comfort zone and into a career-defining project.
Presley had her breakthrough on Dallas
Primarily famous for her marriage to the King of Rock ’n’ Roll, Presley began exploring her own career opportunities following Elvis’ death in 1977. She took acting classes, but the idea of performing in front of people initially proved intimidating.
“After six months, the instructor made me stand up in front of the class and said, ‘I want you to sing and dance and whistle. I want you to be a tree and a rock.’ And it wasn’t so bad,” she told the Daily Express. “I knew I was never going to be a great actress, but I’d finally beaten that fear.”
Her onscreen career started slow and includes a notable snub. She was reportedly offered one of the lead roles on Charlie’s Angels, the popular TV series featuring an all-female team of martially skilled private investigators, but declined because she didn’t like the concept.
Presley finally achieved her breakthrough in 1983 on the TV drama Dallas, and went on to play Jenna Wade across five seasons and 144 episodes. Around the start of her tenure, the southern soap opera was the most-watched show in prime time ahead of 60 Minutes and soap opera Dynasty.
More roles were within reach, but proved elusive for Presley.
Presley declined to play a Bond girl in A View to a Kill
While on Dallas, Presley was considered for a part known for propelling aspiring female actors: the love interest to fictional super spy James Bond, then played by Roger Moore, in 1985’s A View to a Kill.
Although initially attributed to her TV commitments, Presley eventually revealed she turned down the role—instead given to Tanya Roberts—of her own accord. “I didn’t take the part because I was unhappy with the idea of becoming a Bond girl, and I declined, because I didn’t want to be known for being a Bond girl. Once you’re in the movie industry, that would set you up to be in films, and so I declined, on my own,” she said in 2024.
However, Presley quickly felt typecast in a different sense—as a melodramatic TV actor. She desperately wanted the female lead in the 1987 political thriller No Way Out with Kevin Costner, but lost out to Sean Young—15 years her junior.
“I’d love to be in the position of a Meryl Streep or Kathleen Turner,” she told The Washington Post. “I’m getting good scripts, but those people are out for those parts, too. At this point, I’d take a part just for the experience; I have some dues to pay.”
Priscilla was preoccupied with her personal life as well. Her only daughter with Elvis, Lisa Marie Presley, was on the verge of her first marriage to Danny Keough in 1988. She became pregnant with daughter Riley Keough that same year at age 20.
Presley was desperate for a dramatic change. So, she pivoted to comedy and auditioned for The Naked Gun.
Presley was cast in The Naked Gun for her lack of comedic training
Although The Naked Gun director David Zucker, his brother Jerry Zucker, and writer Jim Abrahams initially eyed Bo Derek for the role of Jane Spencer, Presley had two things working in her favor.
One was her Elvis connection. Zucker and his brother Jerry were self-proclaimed fans of the singer and Presley’s name “held some fascination” to them. Second, and more important, was her lack of comedy experience.
A spoof of crime films, the movie derived many of its gags from lead actor Leslie Nielsen and others playing slapstick and ridiculous dialogue completely straight. “That was one of the questions (they asked), was, ‘Have you ever done comedy before?’ And I said, ‘No,’” Presley explained. “So I walked out of there thinking I don’t have the part. A week later, I got a call saying, ‘You got it.’”
She quickly caught on and wasn’t afraid of sharing the set with Nielsen. “At first, I’d think, ‘This can’t be funny. Are people going to get that?’ And then we would do a scene and we would hear the crew dying of laughter, and then we knew we had it,” Presley said.
Despite this, Presley was incredibly nervous at a screening of the movie and worried it might signal the end of her career. Instead, she cried at the applause from a full audience.
The film—now known by its full name, The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad—premiered on December 2, 1988, and is regarded as a comedy classic. Film critic Roger Ebert praised Presley’s “light comedic touch that works as a counterweight to the less subtle aspects of the movie.” She returned for two sequels in 1991 and 1994.
Presley gave Pamela Anderson advice for the remake
Even with the popularity of The Naked Gun, Presley only appeared in one other feature film, The Adventures of Ford Fairlane (1990) and made a variety of minor TV appearances. Cailee Spaeny portrayed Presley in the 2023 biographical movie Priscilla, based on the 1985 memoir Elvis and Me about her relationship with the singer.
Despite her iconic role in the original trilogy, Presley has no involvement in the rebooted version of The Naked Gun—though she is credited as Jane Spencer, so it’s possible she appears in archival footage.
“I wouldn’t do it really if I was asked because you don’t fix something that’s already fixed,” she told The Standard in 2022, adding the experience wouldn’t be the same without her friend Nielsen. The actor died in November 2020.
With the movie releasing this week, it’s apparent Presley has softened her stance on the project. According to People, she contacted Anderson to offer support. The 58-year-old actor plays Beth, a love interest to Neeson’s Frank Drebin Jr.—the fictional son of Nielsen’s character. The pair reportedly developed a real-life romance from their work on the movie.
“[Priscilla] reached out to me. And she said ‘Have fun with it. Don’t be afraid to be silly.’ It’s good advice,” Anderson said.
See The Naked Gun in theaters Friday
See Neeson and Anderson lead a modernized take on the iconic comedy series The Naked Gun, premiering in theaters August 1. The film is produced by Seth MacFarlane and also stars Paul Walter Hauser and Kevin Durand.
Tyler Piccotti joined the Biography.com staff as an Associate News Editor and is now the News and Culture Editor. He previously worked as a reporter and copy editor for a daily newspaper recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors. In his current role, he shares the true stories behind your favorite movies and TV shows and profiles rising musicians, actors, and athletes. When he's not working, you can find him at the nearest amusement park or movie theater and cheering on his favorite teams.
