Kirsten Dunst recommended Cailee Spaeny to Sofia Coppola

Kirsten Dunst recommended Cailee Spaeny to Sofia Coppola.

Kirsten, 41, has been a muse for director Sofia, 52, over the years and when she met Cailee on the set of Alex Garland’s 'Civil War', she knew the young actress would be perfect for Coppola's Priscilla Presley biopic.

Cailee, 25, told The Hollywood Reporter: "I guess Kirsten believed in me and liked what I did [on Alex Garland’s 'Civil War'], and she is obviously Sofia Coppola’s muse. So, to enter into this film with that as a start was pretty special. It was also surreal in the sense that Kirsten played Marie Antoinette [in Coppola’s 'Marie Antoinette' 2006] when she was around 23, and then I did this at 24. So it was funny that our paths crossed in that way. It felt very kismet. So Kirsten having that faith in me and Sofia trusting her was a great way to start this film. And very strange.

"I was pretty shocked that it happened so fast. There was no audition process, really. I just met Sofia for the role. I then saw Kirsten the day that I got it, and it was just really overwhelming and surreal to see her and have it all confirmed. I gave her a hug, and then I started to take on this massive challenge with, genuinely, my dream director. As a teenage girl, she got me into indie films, and one of her films was the first time I ever asked the question of who’s behind the camera. So that was an incredible call to get, but also terrifying. The fear kicked in almost immediately."

Cailee also got to spend time talking with Priscilla before filming and shared one spooky experience they shared when discussing Priscilla's late husband Elvis Presley.

She said: "She and I were on the phone and she [gasped], ‘Do you hear that? … He’s on the radio'. And then she put the phone up to the speaker … And I said, ‘Does he come up on your radio a lot?’ And she said, ‘No, he doesn’t … That’s a bit strange.’ So I got that firsthand experience with her, and I definitely felt like she thought that was a bit spooky."