Val Kilmer on playing Elvis Presley and working with Tony Scott in True Romance:
Elvis was really radical in his day. To wear sideburns that long and wear a pink suit was more radical than David Bowie coming out onstage in a dress. And I like that idea about Elvis, that he was really out there. He’s all together as one character now – same guy who went into the Army and playing with chimps, sweet but he was a teenager on the prowl. That’s what I hope to be when I grow up. Tony Scott is fantastic. He’s a gentleman and an athlete and … what do you call him? He’s a daredevil. He rides his motorcycle too fast, climbs mountains, and he really is a very dedicated guy. First time I worked with him was “Top Gun” and I don’t think I’d worked enough to really appreciate his style at the time, which is really all-encompassing. He really cares about every aspect of the story that he’s telling on film. For example, for “True Romance”, I was working at the time and I had very little time to work on it. And he sent me every single CD of Elvis’, and every single Elvis film. I would get three or four a week in the mail. It was really fun working with Tony. He was very fast, because of my schedule. I think I worked two days, and there were 150 shoes laid out in the trailer and 80 suits, and Tony liked this gold jacket from the famous Elvis suit and had it made exactly the same. But everything, the rings, the shades, he was so thorough and so prepared. It was so much fun to walk into a character who was central to the mind of the lead in the story. Tony made me feel like that as an actor, that I was central to the story. That’s the way he works.
From the special edition of “True Romance”, selective commentaries special features.
I think John Lennon said it the best, ‘ Before Elvis, there was nothing’.