Like many of Baz Luhrmann's productions, Elvis is chock full of colorful characters, this time from famous singer Elvis Presley's life. Many people contributed to the mythos that surrounded The King of Rock 'n' Roll, some profited from it, and others watched in awe as a shy country boy from impoverished Mississippi found freedom in Black music and used it to achieve fame and fortune.
Austin Butler transforms unquestionably into Elvis, right down to his gyrating hips, and Tom Hanks disappears beneath villainy — and prosthetics — as his nefarious manager Colonel Tom Parker. But Elvis's life was full of family, friends, and professional acquaintances, including blues legends like B.B. King and Ellie "Big Mama" Thornton, resulting in many memorable characters.
Ellie "Big Mama" Thornton
Ellie "Big Mama" Thornton might not get a lot of screen time in Elvis, but that doesn't make her contribution to the film's narrative any less impactful. She released "Hound Dog" several years earlier than Elvis, but it was his rendition of the song that went on to become his longest-running hit in the mid-'50s. Shonka Dukureh makes a small part feel gloriously big.
Thornton is definitely a musician who deserves a biopic herself, but it's a start to see her performing in the Beale Street section of the movie, inspiring Elvis with her soulful vocals. Thornton taught Elvis to use his whole body as a channel for powerful change, to lead a spiritual sermon using nothing but the air in his lungs and the feeling in his hips. Thornton was one of many artists that, though they didn't receive nearly the amount of recognition they deserved during their lifetimes, were discovered by new generations because of their connection to Elvis.
Hank Snow & Jimmie Rodgers Snow
Prior to representing Elvis's interests, Tom Parker saw to the careers of country musicians Hank Snow and his son Jimmie Rodgers Snow. They performed throughout the South at carnivals, fairs, and halls, focusing on "family-friendly" entertainment and hymns. When Parker sets his sights on Elvis, both Snows are snowed by the Colonel.
Played by Australian actors David Wenham and Kodi Smit-Mhee, characters who could be dismissed as ciphers are effective in communicating the old guard's protestation of progress, and the new guard's acceptance — even yearning — for something different. As Snow Sr. despises Elvis for the amoral delinquency he thinks he represents, Snow Jr. can't get enough of his new sound.
Simon Binder & Tom Diskin
Simon Binder and Tom Diskin come into Elvis's life at a time of great career flux in the '60s, when even the best Elvis Presley movies aren't drawing large crowds. With The Beatles and newer acts threatening to dethrone him, The King turns to the producer team to reinvigorate his sound, and they concoct the '68 Comeback Special.
Dacre Montgomery and Leon Ford portray the two producers, who inject Elvis's image with a much-needed vitality and danger. They help Elvis defy his management to eschew a maudlin Christmas special in favor of a medley involving Elvis getting back to his swaggering roots, full of sex appeal and greasy hair, this time all wrapped in black leather. They represent freedom and most importantly innovation, allowing Elvis the courage to release something like "If I Can Dream," his appeal for hope in the desperate times directly following Martin Luther King's assassination.
Vernon Presley
Vernon Presley might have built the small shotgun house the Presley clan called home in Tupelo, Mississippi, but clearly, that was the last time Vernon was a man of actionable results. His wife Gladys is firmly established as the backbone of the family, and after her death, Vernon recedes further into the background, despite being made president of Presley Enterprises.
Played here by Richard Roxburgh, who also appeared in Luhrmann's masterpiece Moulin Rouge, he infuses Vernon with a vulnerability that he seems to have ed on to his son which, when exploited has disastrous consequences. There is one scene towards the end of the Vegas era when Vernon could have pried a little more into the business dealings of Col. Parker and perhaps saved his son, but instead, he adds another brick to the wall of his prison.
Priscilla Presley
Priscilla Presley appears first as a teenager with gumption that captures Elvis's attention while serving overseas in , and later as his long-suffering spouse, when his opiate addiction is in full swing and he can't seem to decide whose love is more important; hers or his fans'.
Olivia DeJonge makes a memorable Priscilla, one of the most significant figures in Elvis's life other than his parents and Colonel Parker, and more importantly, she serves as the emotional anchor of the movie. She seems to be able to see through the gossamer haze that enshrouds him in later years, standing as a voice of reason until she's forced to look out for herself and their daughter. When everyone else placates him, Priscilla tries to make him see the truth, but it shatters his reality too much.
B.B. King
Of all the Black musicians featured in Elvis, from Arthur Crudup to Little Ritchie, the most attention is given to B.B. King, who had a convivial relationship with The King of Rock 'n' Roll long before he was crowned. The legendary blues guitarist is depicted as someone whom Elvis can come confide to, an understanding peer for whom Elvis holds the greatest respect, and highlights the Black musicians essential to shaping Elvis's career.
Kelvin Harrison Jr. does as commendable a job embodying "the other King" as Austin Butler does with Elvis Presley, evoking the musician's particularly calm cadence, most effectively when Elvis chooses to attend several Goodwill Revues in which he's the only white person in attendance. B.B. King manages to come across as a real person, even as his character serves to remind fans that Elvis was a part of the Black community, and often "came home" when he was feeling overwhelmed outside of it.
Gladys Presley
As made clear in Elvis, Gladys occupied a very important force in her son's life, representing a constant that once removed (as with her shocking and unexpected death when Elvis was in the Army), would catapult Elvis into a life of indecisiveness and overreliance on Colonel Parker.
Gladys is played with quiet strength by Australian actress Helen Thomson who, in just a few scenes, manages to fully convey the fierce bond her real-life counterpart shared with her son. Gladys gave birth to twins, but because she lost Jesse, it's clear that she became overprotective of her surviving boy, who wanted nothing more than to make her happy. As Elvis became more famous, it took him away from his "best girl," and that was enough to send her spiraling in a manner that he would replicate later in life.
Tom Parker
At this point, it's difficult to have a conversation about Elvis Presley without mentioning "Colonel" Tom Parker, the Dutch immigrant turned carnival barker who always seemed to have his mind on the next con. He provides the narration for Elvis's rise to stardom, providing an appropriate control over the narrative.
In an inspired casting choice, Luhrmann selected Tom Hanks, one of America's most beloved actors, to portray one of its most surreptitious villains. Despite being under heavy prosthetics and sounding like Colonel Sanders, Hanks' Col. Parker is a subtle villain, switching deftly between coming across as Elvis's avuncular friend and a stern taskmaster. While it might not be considered one of Hanks' best characters, only he could sell Parker feigning demure innocence about the chaos he's caused all around him.
Elvis Presley
It's a hope that the titular character of a biopic will prove to be the one that deserves the most attention, not because the movie is about them, but because they prove an interesting subject. There are few characters as fascinating as Elvis Presley, a poor boy from Mississippi, entranced by Black music, who became one of America's greatest icons of the 20th century.
There were a lot of other actors who could have played The King, and some might have looked more like Elvis from more angles, but Austin Butler was selected because, like the man he fully embodies here, he is mesmerizing. He captures Elvis's preternatural beauty, his sensuous physicality, and his torturous sensitivity. Watching him is to be hypnotized by whatever magic propelled one of the world's greatest entertainers.
