Elvis: The King's Realm Discussion Forum

1963 - Bye Bye Birdie

Conrad Birdie by Jessie Pearson
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056891/




the phil silvers show - rock n rookie
Elvin Pelvin (Tom Gilson) is drafted into the army & the brass decide to send him to a quiet, backwater army base
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0674165/



Post Elvis death:

https://ew.com/actors-who-have-played-e ... ey-8651273

Kurt Russell, Elvis (1979)




kurt's first movie:



Don Johnson, Elvis and the Beauty Queen (1981)




David Keith, Heartbreak Hotel (1988)




Dale Midkiff, Elvis and Me (1988)




Michael St. Gerard, Great Balls of Fire (1989), Elvis (tv series) (1990) Heart of Dixie (1989), and an episode of Quantum Leap





Val Kilmer, True Romance (1993)



Peter Dobson, Forrest Gump (1994)


Bruce Campbell, Bubba Ho-Tep (2002)



Tyler Hilton, Walk the Line (2005)




Jack White, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007)




more hoax than playing Elvis...
Jimmy Ellis, Orion: The Man Who Would Be King (2015)



Michael Shannon, Elvis & Nixon (2016)


he looked more like a zombie elvis....

Austin Butler, Elvis (2022)


Jacob Elordi, Priscilla (2023)



https://people.com/movies/actors-who-ha ... s-presley/

(ignoring duplication from the previous article)

Jonathan Rhys Meyers in Elvis


Harvey Keitel in Finding Graceland



Sun Records tv show
Drake Milligan as elvis



not in the above articles, but also played elvis


Jeff Yager Twilight Zone – The Once and Future King (09/27/86) | Genre Snaps






Elvis & The Colonel: The Untold Story" - a made-for-TV movie that aired on NBC in January 1993 starring Beau Bridges as Colonel Tom Parker and Rob Youngblood as Elvis



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvis_Meets_Nixon

Rick Peters as Elvis Presley

Austin Butler, hands down.

Predictable choice maybe.

But the way he embodied Elvis' persona, and his stupendous performances, makes him the best Elvis.

I personally prefer his portrayal of younger Elvis and that of Elvis when he starts losing control.

Austin Butler is top of my list. No doubt about it. Second would be Michael St. Gerard. And Kurt Russel was not bad either. Most of the others I haven't seen, I must admit.

For me, the most irritating "Elvis" is Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Watching him perform "If I can dream"... good Lord, help!

Bilbobaggins wrote: October 4th, 2025, 1:34 am Austin Butler is top of my list. No doubt about it. Second would be Michael St. Gerard. And Kurt Russel was not bad either. Most of the others I haven't seen, I must admit.

For me, the most irritating "Elvis" is Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Watching him perform "If I can dream"... good Lord, help!

Agree on Rhys Meyers.

He is otherwise a very good actor.

But as Elvis he just didn't get it. Although he won a Golden Globe for this performance.

is this because Austin is the most recent or only one you saw?

I found there was not much for austin to do in the Baz underwhelming spectacle, other than mostly brood.. He did capture a physicality

I lean towards Micheal St Gerard, but he did have tv episodes to work out the emotional side, but having to lip sync to ronnie mcdowell was irritating

but Kurt Russell was the first one I saw as Elvis so there is a baseline there



I rather enjoyed Elvis Meets nixon - and refused to watch the bizarro world Kevin Spacey one where the Elvis looked like a zombie to make nixon the more appealing character. I was surprised spacey didn't do Elvis

I have seen almost every one of the movies in the list

Iwillbetrue wrote: October 4th, 2025, 2:30 am

Bilbobaggins wrote: October 4th, 2025, 1:34 am Austin Butler is top of my list. No doubt about it. Second would be Michael St. Gerard. And Kurt Russel was not bad either. Most of the others I haven't seen, I must admit.

For me, the most irritating "Elvis" is Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Watching him perform "If I can dream"... good Lord, help!

Agree on Rhys Meyers.

He is otherwise a very good actor.

But as Elvis he just didn't get it. Although he won a Golden Globe for this performance.

which only confirms a bigger problem when they hand out these awards a cringe moment and then some for IF I CAN DREAM...Jonathan What Happened

As far as Elvis & Nixon (Michael Shannon) the one scene that I thought was really good was when he and the guy playing Jerry Schilling were in the room together and Michael was getting dressed and there was a brief discussion about the difference between Elvis having to be Elvis and Jerry just being Jerry, it`s a good scene and well worth watching. The look on Jerry`s face as Elvis is talking is very well done and captures that moment perfectly.

The 2006 Elvis was the first one to actually use Elvis' recordings instead of Ronnie McDowell....

it was also the first one that included ann margaret as a relationship

Anita and Linda along with Ginger continue to be ignored in biopics

but often Dixie is included as the before fame girlfriend

Sweet-Angeline wrote: October 4th, 2025, 9:51 am As far as Elvis & Nixon (Michael Shannon) the one scene that I thought was really good was when he and the guy playing Jerry Schilling were in the room together and Michael was getting dressed and there was a brief discussion about the difference between Elvis having to be Elvis and Jerry just being Jerry, it`s a good scene and well worth watching. The look on Jerry`s face as Elvis is talking is very well done and captures that moment perfectly.

I liked Shannon's performance. So what if he doesn't look like Elvis. He is a good actor.

NinaFromCanadaEh wrote: October 4th, 2025, 12:11 pm The 2006 Elvis was the first one to actually use Elvis' recordings instead of Ronnie McDowell....

it was also the first one that included ann margaret as a relationship

Anita and Linda along with Ginger continue to be ignored in biopics

but often Dixie is included as the before fame girlfriend

With so many girlfriends, it is difficult to include all!!

Iwillbetrue wrote: October 4th, 2025, 12:40 pm

Sweet-Angeline wrote: October 4th, 2025, 9:51 am As far as Elvis & Nixon (Michael Shannon) the one scene that I thought was really good was when he and the guy playing Jerry Schilling were in the room together and Michael was getting dressed and there was a brief discussion about the difference between Elvis having to be Elvis and Jerry just being Jerry, it`s a good scene and well worth watching. The look on Jerry`s face as Elvis is talking is very well done and captures that moment perfectly.

I liked Shannon's performance. So what if he doesn't look like Elvis. He is a good actor.

I did not see that one because I loath Kevin Spacey and found the movie stills where Nixon looked better than Elvis bizarre

the Elvis meets nixon earlier one was very good, part fiction and part documentary

Iwillbetrue wrote: October 4th, 2025, 12:41 pm

NinaFromCanadaEh wrote: October 4th, 2025, 12:11 pm The 2006 Elvis was the first one to actually use Elvis' recordings instead of Ronnie McDowell....

it was also the first one that included ann margaret as a relationship

Anita and Linda along with Ginger continue to be ignored in biopics

but often Dixie is included as the before fame girlfriend

With so many girlfriends, it is difficult to include all!!

Yes, but it would be nice to see the more significant ones, after all Elvis' personal life was really him, not the public work he did

I think the worst was Don Johnson


the kurt russell one suffered from bad writing with having Elvis talk to his dead twin to get narrative across ,telling instead of showing


I did not see the more recent Sun Records, but from the reviews, it seemed to be rewriting cultural history

The Baz one was an underwhelming spectacle for me, more making photos turn to video than Elvis' story

When I saw it in the theatre - during covid - I was probably the oldest in the audience and I could not get over how silent the audience was

I had never seen such nonreaction to elvis

I actually made a cheer at the opening of the snowman league, but I think you already had to know the elvis story to be able to follow it

at the scene where Elvis collapses and Parker says get him on stage, the friend (in her 30s) I went with looked at me and I said, yeah that really happened


during the Priscilla movie, there were young women who were there to see the actor, they made shock noises at the relationship abuse and cried when Priscilla drove out, they were unaware of the story entirely

I walked over after the credits and told the twenty somethings that it was heartening that they had that reaction, they were surprised to be talked with

NinaFromCanadaEh wrote: October 4th, 2025, 1:48 pm I think the worst was Don Johnson

thumbs up

elvis-fan wrote: October 4th, 2025, 2:50 pm I think both Michael's were excellent... but I'd give the best overall portrayals to Kurt and Austin. It's unfortunate Austin's movie wasn't more about Elvis and less about Parker and fantasy...

...which is why I think we will still see another one down the road

Elvis getting the big screen treatment was over due

the Kurt movie was a tv one in the USA and Canada, but Europe got a theatre release with a few more songs

The Twilight Zone one was fun

An Elvis impersonator goes back in time, kills Elvis and then replaces him

Red West was in it