“I was crushed”: Before Her Iconic Role in ‘Priscilla’, Cailee Spaeny Faced a Devastating Blow After Failing to Land Her Dream Role in a $27 Million Nicole Kidman Film

It is quite common to face a few setbacks before a big break, especially in the movie industry. Cailee Spaeny is no exception in this case. The actor started her acting career with small roles in local theaters, and her first big break in Hollywood came with Pacific Rim: Uprising in 2018.

And that was it. Spaeny started getting known for her versatility for her roles in Bad Times at the El Royale and The Craft: Legacy. However, there is one particular setback that has affected her the most that she still remembers. 

Missed Opportunity That Crushed Hopes for Cailee Spaeny

Spaeny has always admired Sofia Coppola’s work, and she was keen to work on her 2017 film The Beguiled. The movie had a star cast of names like Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst, and Colin Farrell. Unfortunately, that opportunity slipped through her fingers.

The plot of The Beguiled was set during the American Civil War, and the story follows Colin Farrell’s character, who was an injured Union soldier. A group of women then took Farrell to an all-girls boarding school, and it started a psychological power struggle.

Along with him, Nicole Kidman played the role of the headmistress, and Kirsten Dunst and Elle Fanning played other important roles in the film. Among such roles, Cailee Spaeny auditioned for the role of a young girl from the school named Jane.

Although she managed to impress the filmmakers, the role ultimately went to Angourie Rice, who played the role of innocent yet curious Jane. Failing the audition was quite heartbreaking for Spaeny at the time, as she thought it might be her breakout role. In an interview with Empire, she said,

That didn’t end up working out. I was crushed, because Sofia is the director that I zeroed in on as a young teenage girl, especially living in the Bible Belt. There’s something so freeing [in her work] and something that wasn’t really talked about for young women where I grew up.

According to Box Office Mojo, the movie did decent at the box office with a worldwide collection of around $27 million. Although Spaeny was heartbroken, she didn’t let her career stop even for a moment and soon after secured the leading role in Pacific Rim: Uprising, which brought her to Hollywood’s radar.

Cailee Spaeny and Sofia Coppola’s Collaboration That Shaped Priscilla

In the Empire interview, Spaeny also revealed that even The Beguiled was not the first failed attempt at her collaboration with Coppola. Before that, she was supposed to work with the director on The Little Mermaid, but the film was scrapped.

Then The Beguiled incident happened, and years later, the director-actress duo finally came together for Priscilla in 2023, which became a defining moment in Spaeny’s career. She played the leading character, Priscilla Presley, and gave a critically acclaimed, intimate, and layered performance.

Sofia Coppola is known for her female-centric stories, and her influence, especially on Spaeny, extends beyond just film direction. The actress talked in the interview about how Coppola took young girls seriously in her work, which resonated with her “on a personal level.”

Coppola was looking for someone who could convey the emotions of a character’s love, identity, and independence, and it seems like she was happy with the way Spaeny portrayed a young woman who was caught in the shadow of Elvis Presley. After missing out on The Beguiled, she landed a much bigger role, which shows that sometimes near misses can lead to bigger opportunities.

The Beguiled is currently available to stream on Netflix.

Priscilla is now streaming on Prime Video.