US Magazine Dec. 12, 1988
By David Resin

The tabloids rarely miss the chance to invoke the Presley name, whether it's to dish Priscilla's love secrets or to reports the latest Elvis sightings. But in early October, there occurred a bit of irresistible news that took everyone by surprise: Elvis & Priscilla's daughter, 20-year-old Lisa Marie, had wed musician Daniel Keough, 24. A few days later came a second shocker: Elvis' baby was expecting a baby of her own. Public curiosity was aroused further by a TV commercial featuring Priscilla & the normally reclusive Lisa Marie hawking Oldsmobiles.

With the newlyweds tucked safely away on a Scientology cruise ship in the Caribbean, only Mom was left to field the inquiries. Not an unusual role, except that with her ELVIS AND ME days behind her, the former Priscilla Beaulieu had probably thought she could inch a bit further out of the King's shadow and live her life in relative calm.

After 5 years on DALLAS as the love-crossed Jenna Wade, Priscilla finally left Southfork last season to make a movie. Her first role: co-starring with Leslie Nielsen in THE NAKED GUN: FROM THE FILES OF POLICE SQUAD! She figured a comedic turn might be the best antidote for the 1/2 decade of nightmare soap opera dramatics that at times echoed the theatrical intensity of her personal life.

Then there's her live-in love, Brazilian film producer, Marco Garibaldi, 33. Wedding bells haven't rung yet for the two, but the stork has come and gone, leaving Navarone Anthony, born March 1, 1987.

Priscilla, 43, arrives for her interview in a bright purple sweater, a skirt, boots & sunglasses. She orders some tea and announces that, just moments earlier, she walked into the wrong room. "All these men in suits just looked up at me in shock," she says. "I waved and smiled and got out of there quickly." She grins like a mischievous teenager. "Perhaps I should have stayed a moment and said, 'Now, gentlemen, the reason I've asked you all to be here...'"

THE NAKED GUN IS A COMEDY. THAT'S QUITE A DEPARTURE FOR YOU, ISN'T IT?

It was one of those things that I had hoped to get after 5 years of Jenna Wade on DALLAS, going through 5 years of trial & tribulations and melodrama, plus my life being a drama. So it was a decision that I wanted to make to take me from that, to give me a break from the drama. and to show that there's a lot more to me than that. I wanted to do the unexpected. No one would've thought I even had comedy in me. No one has ever really seen a funny Priscilla, you know?

WAS IT A RISKY MOVE FOR YOU?

Absolutely. Comedy's timing. What if I didn't have the timing? I thought, "Boy, if this doesn't work..." I mean, this could come off really looking crazy. This could be a big flop. You wonder, is it as funny for them as it was for you? The first week that I went in, I was nervous. I mean, it wasn't something that I was used to doing, and I don't think anyone else would expect me to be doing [it], you know?

OTHER THAN YOUR COMEDIC BENT, WHAT SURPRISES CAN WE EXPECT FROM YOU?

I love to take chances. and I don't think people know that about me because I haven't been able to [take chances] in my life, of course. I'm talking about my acting. I really admire the roles that, let's say, Kathleen Turner comes up in. She takes risks. and I'd like to be there one day in that same sense.

SINCE YOU'RE A PRESLEY, EVERYBODY THINKS YOU CAN GET WHAT YOU WANT. IS THAT REALLY TRUE?

Oh, my God, no. Everything that I've done has been having to prove myself because of my celebrity, being in the limelight since I was a young kid. The name has gotten me through the door, but it's up to me after that. Everything I've done has been an effort.

IT'S ALMOST LIKE YOU'RE CONSIDERED THE SON OR DAUGHTER OF A FAMOUS ACTOR.

Exactly. That's as much as I can compare to. It's just that I've had to prove myself more, and people probably thought, why would I want to do this? Is it a hobby, or does she take it seriously? I've taken it seriously. I mean, my God! It's my life, I'm not that careless with my life. I am a very responsible person. It's a reflection of me. So, if I take on something, if I pursue something, believe me, I give it 100% & more. I'm very hard on myself.

DID YOU TURN DOWN OTHER ROLES BEFORE YOU TOOK THIS ONE?

I was offered a role in the James Bond movie [A VIEW TO A KILL]. They wanted me on that film. But I was indecisive that that was a right move for me to do at that time.

NOW YOU'RE FINISHED WITH "DALLAS".

Right. Jenna went to Europe. She sent her daughter to school in Europe and decided to stay with her daughter. And Ray's character [Steve Kanaly] I believe eventually joins me. And that's how they left it. It's nice that they didn't kill me off.

EVERYBODY WANT S TO KNOW ABOUT THE BIG WEDDING. WHAT KIND OF MOTHERLY ADVICE DID YOU PASS ON TO LISA MARIE BASED ON YOUR OWN EXPERIENCESS ABOUT MARRIAGE?

I said, "Wait. Wait, because when you're young, you really don't--you just can't imagine. you can't imagine the--I mean, everything that there is."

TO MARRIAGE?

To marriage, but--there's no rush. I mean, there's no rush. There really isn't. And I think that's the thing that one feels, that you want to rush out and get married when you're in love. But I give the advice, "It would be great to wait. Why don't you wait before you get involved? You have a lot to look forward to."

But you know what? And I'll be real honest: I think this relieved a lot of pressure that she was going through, being Elvis Presley's daughter. I really do. A lot was expected of her. What's she going to do? Is she going to follow in his footsteps? Is she going to follow in my footsteps? I mean, she wasn't putting herself through it. And I think that's very unfair to put on a celebrity's child. I mean, it goes along with the name, of course. I know with this baby, that's very much wanted, that she's going to feel real good about herself.

WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR PERSONAL RULES FOR HAPPINESS IN HOLLYWOOD?

I think to maintain your sanity, your family comes first and your friends. I don't think that this is a town that you can have a lot of friends in. But you have, let's say, a handful of a choice friends. And I don't think I could survive in this town without it. I think it's a very--I'd be careful here what I say, because I have to work. I've been pleasantly surprised that out of all the bad experiences or the harsh experiences or the unfortunate experiences, there have always been people in this town to be very helpful, and that kind of goes against the grain of what you think of. You have mixed emotions living here.

WELL, YOU HAVE TO BE AVAILABLE, I SUPPOSE.

Believe me, if I were to reach a point in my life like Meryl Streep or Kathleen Turner or Glenn Close, I wouldn't be living here.

WOULD YOU CALL THOSE YOUR ROLE MODELS?

Oh, yeah. Definitely. & Cher, too. Absolutely. I kind of compare myself to her. I mean, I go, "God! Good for you! I know the battle, I know the tough roads, I know what it took to get where you are right now. I know what it took." She wasn't taken seriously at first. I mean, she was kind of a joke.

DID YOU LEARN ANY LESSONS ABOUT ACTING FROM ELVIS'S OWN CAREER MISTAKES? WHAT SORT OF THINGS DID YOU KNOW TO WATCH OUT FOR?

Choice of roles, control. But, I think mostly choice of roles because I know in his case he didn't have that. You know, signing so many movies per year and doing them wasn't my idea of how you would go about building a career for yourself. He was lucky he had another career.

DID THE CANDOR OF THE GOLDMAN BOOK ABOUT ELVIS INSPIRE YOU TO WRITE YOURS?

Oh, absolutely. His was every reason why I wrote my book. After reading his book I just took the responsibility on my own, because there'd also been another book prior to that that a couple of bodyguards, Sonny & Red West, had written [ELVIS, WHAT HAPPENED?] that didn't paint a very nice picture. Then Albert Goldman's book came out. But he was a much more substantial writer, and it put him on the best-seller list for many, many weeks. I couldn't allow that to go down in history as the last definitive book on Elvis Presley that people would go to. And I didn't want my daughter to read something like that and think, "My God! Is this true? Could this be true?"

WITHOUT HAVING A BALANCE, YOU MEAN? SHE COULD READ IT ANYWAY.

Yeah. But there'd be a lot of questions, I think, in her head. And I think my book did discredit his book. My daughter loved it. And when I got her approval on it, she knew what I went thru, she read the excerpts, she saw what I was doing, she supported me, she read it 3 times and loved it. And I think that was enough for me to go on, to feel that it was okay.

WAS YOUR HAND FORCED BY THE GOLDMAN BOOK? WOULD YOU HAVE BEEN LESS INTIMATE OTHERWISE?

There were a lot of things I didn't say. There were a lot of things, of course, I wouldn't, but why? I mean, that wasn't the purpose of the book. I can not take the responsibility for something. And I wouldn't do that to the public. They were waiting for this book, and they felt that it had to be right. After I read Goldman's book and after the book that Red & Sonny West had written--believe me, this book wasn't intimate. To say the least.

YOKO ONO'S NOW IN A SIMILAR POSITION WITH GOLDMAN'S BOOK ON LENNON. WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO HER?

I know the shock that I'm sure she felt from the exposure. I know that when you know someone as intimately as she knew John, you have some person who didn't even know him write such intimacies about him, & so damaging. I totally understand whatever she has to do to make it go right for John.

ELVIS' NATURE WAS TO SHELTER YOU; HE HAD HIS WAY OF DOING THINGS.

I understand that a lot more now than I probably did then. There was an innocence & a vulnerability & I think that he wanted to protect that very much. Away from the limelight, away from Hollywood. I did that with my first child. I did the same thing. I sheltered & hid her away from here because this isn't the most optimum town to raise your child in, you know? So, I'm even doing it with my second one. I do understand the reasons for that.

DIDN'T YOU ONCE SAY THAT IF ELVIS WERE ALIVE TODAY, HE'D PROBABLY HIRE YOU?

Yeah. Only because I've done very well with his estate, probably better than anyone else.

DID ELVIS EVER SEE THE POTENTIAL? DID HE ENCOURAGE YOU? YOU KNOW, "SOMEDAY YOU'RE GOING TO BE GREAT."

No. Even at that time, I had good opinions & viewpoints. But I was awfully young to be listened to. A kid, right? I think that he kind of overlooked that or didn't really want to see that. So if he looked at me now, he definitely would hire me if he knew what I had done.

YOU'VE TALKED ABOUT SOME OF THE TOUGH OBSTACLES THAT YOU'VE FACED. NOW THAT THEY'RE BEHIND YOU....

Oh, I don't know. you know, I still have a way to go. I just do. Even though this movie's a comedy, even though I feel & hope it's going to do well, I hope that things start coming in. But I know that it'll still be having to prove myself.

ARE YOU ONLY AS GOOD AS YOUR LAST ROLE?

Well, isn't that the truth of anything? I'm not someone who takes anything for granted. I know the personal battle that it's been for me. Sometimes I look at myself & go, "My God! You're still trying to prove yourself, you don't need to do this anymore." I've come a long way from a 14-year-old kid who wasn't even planning or getting into the business. & I don't think anyone ever thought that I would. So I look at all the accomplishments that I've had & I go, "Geez, it's not so bad."