When you are heralded as the King of rock and roll, everybody wants a part of the excitement, revelry, and, of course, revenue; something that Elvis Presley had to find out the hard way during his rapid rise to the top back in the 1950s.
In the modern age of celebrity, where you can scarcely turn on your television without a bombardment of information on whoever is currently experiencing their 15 minutes, it is hard to comprehend the revolutionary power of Elvis Presley. The world had never experienced such a figure before; somebody who captured the attention of America’s youth so swiftly and with such intensity.
Rock and roll represented the birth of youth culture and ‘the age of the teenager’, and very few artists reflected the rock revolution quite so all-encompassingly as Elvis. Sure, there were various other musicians who were more technically talented or had influenced the development of the style to a much greater degree, but Presley was the marketable face of the era. With his signature slicked-back pompadour and those shaking hips, the performer shocked the older generation and became a subject of adoration for the young.
Those early days of Elvis, following his fateful visit to Sun Studio in 1953, were typified by energetic, loose, and low-stakes rock and roll expression, capturing the grassroots nature of the scene during its early years. However, it didn’t take long for the singer to dominate the global pop charts, something which brought a lot more responsibility to Presley’s plate. In an effort to cash in on his newfound stardom, the team which surrounded ‘The King’, including his manager Colonel Tom Parker, were keen for him to take on as many projects as possible.
Namely, this included a fledgling film career. Beginning in 1956 with Love Me Tender, Presley appeared in a deluge of rock and roll movies, which were adored by audiences despite their typically paper-thin plotlines and wooden acting performances. Elvis himself was a noted fan of the film industry, and often spoke about his admiration of figures like James Dean or Marlon Brando, so it is fair to say that he wasn’t exactly over the moon about acting in these works of ever-diminishing quality.
Then, in the mid-1970s, Presley was offered a leading part in the 1976 remake of A Star Is Born, starring Barbra Streisand. Inevitably, the film became a smash hit upon release, becoming the second-highest-grossing film of 1976 and earning a whopping five Golden Globes, two Grammys, and even an Oscar. However, the role offered to Presley ended up being played by Kris Kristofferson.
“Barbra had offered him the part,” Presley’s wife, Priscilla, told People in 2024. However, Presley’s manager, Colonel, decreed that he shouldn’t accept the offer, as Streisand would be the lead rather than him. “Colonel talked him out of that saying, ‘Oh, it’s not going to be good. She’s going to be in charge, not you. Her movie, not yours.’”
She added that the missed opportunity of A Star Is Born became a major regret for Presley during his later years. “Elvis regretted that because he felt he could have played that part. [He] wanted to be in great movies, not the stupid movies that he did like Girls! Girls! Girls!. That wasn’t Elvis. Colonel did not get him really at all.”
In the end, Presley passed away in 1977, only a few months after A Star Is Born hit the silver screen. However, Colonel’s choice to dissuade him from taking on that role marked a colossal missed opportunity for the performer to create a legacy, not just as a pop culture icon and incredible rock performer, but as the actor he always wanted to be.