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The
following is a phone interview with Jennifer Holden, done by Andrew
Hearn,
on July 1999. Everybody
remembers the stubborn blonde Sherry Wilson who gave Vince Everett a
hard time in the 1957 movie
Jailhouse Rock.
Things on the set were much the same to begin with…
“Each moment was so intense that
we totally loved each other.”
Legend:
Jennifer Holden, with Elvis in
Jailhouse Rock;
Jennifer Holden.
Hi, Jennifer, is it a good time to
call?
Oh yeah, I just got in, but I’d like
to interview you if you don’t mind, just for a change.
Okay, go ahead.
How long have you been involved in the
Elvis thing?
I’ve had the magazine for about six
years now, but the colour edition was launched just a few months
ago, so it’s pretty much a new thing. It’s snowballed into something
quite big though.
That’s amazing. Are you a computer
person?
Well, a little bit, but anyway,
I’ve a few questions for you. I’m going to start with a couple of
obvious ones. Tell us how you got the part in
Jailhouse Rock.
Well, I was in a movie previously to
that with Robert Taylor called
Tip
On a Dead Jockey and
these were
Rebel Without a Cause-type people. I couldn’t even
seem to walk ten steps and say what I was supposed to say. I kind of
said what I felt like and although the director liked it, Robert
Taylor almost had a heart attack. The director promised me I’d be in
his next film and that was it. It turned out to be
Jailhouse Rock.
Do you remember your very first
meeting with Elvis? Who put you two together?
It was back in Vegas and I was
introduced to him when he was playing at the Frontier. He looked
really bad back then, wearing an old leather jacket and I thought
I’d just stick my foot out and trip him as he walked by. Some
friends of mine did introduce us, but I didn’t really get to know
him until I did the film.
When you finally did get together
for the film, did you get on from day one?
We got along great but at first it was
a little tricky because I think he was going through a lot of
emotional changes because he knew he was going to be drafted.
Usually when you come on set you’re introduced to your co-stars and
everybody really tries to make everyone feel really comfortable.
Elvis just sat in one corner with his boys. Once we got acquainted
properly we did become really good friends.
Elvis loved the ladies, as we all
know. Did he flirt with you at all?
Okay, the director bought up the
lovemaking scene, right? And we still felt pretty cold towards each
other and you can see that in my face. Well, we had to do the
kissing part and I remember thinking that I was going to give it all
I had to break this shell. It went quite well and I broke down his
defences and there weren’t takes as it worked so well.
 
Legend: Jennifer Holden, with
Elvis, in Jailhouse Rock,
during shooting breaks.
Did you socialize with Elvis off
set?
No, not as such. After we did the pool
scene I went back to my dressing room and there was a faulty switch.
I went to pull the chord by the door and all of a sudden this flamed
fired at me, it was pouring out of the socket. I was so scared that
I shouted for Elvis and so he came running back and pushed the door
open and then he invited me to dinner and we talked a lot about the
problems he was having. He was very deeply insecure about what was
going to happen to him with the army thing; it was just around the
corner.
Was there any fooling around with
the boys?
Not really, he just hung out with the
guys and that was it. I do actually remember the guys, but I never
really kept in touch with any of them.
Now here’s a question for you. It’s
puzzled many fans and it’s had me wondering too. The pool scene was
obviously filmed on a hot summer’s day as everyone wore
short-sleeved shirts or bikinis. During the performance of
Baby I
Don’t Care however, Elvis is baking in a high-necked woollen jumper.
Any idea why?
It certainly wasn’t cool, a typical
Californian day. But it was probably how they dressed him. The
wardrobe person knew exactly how they wanted him to look. I mean, I
was never too crazy about the make-up they put us in anyway. At the
time we were shooting the film we had to look typical of the people
there in Hollywood.
 
 
Legend: Jennifer Holden, with
Elvis, in Jailhouse Rock,
during the famous kissing scene.
Did you have any indication then of
just how long Elvis would last? Did you realize that he’d still be
as popular as he is today?
The night we went out we had a
conversation where I told him that he’d never have anything to worry
about and that his big concern was that nobody was ever going to say
no to him and yes, I knew he’d be big.
What about romance, was there any?
You see, when we were acting together
we were in love. If an actor can’t take it to that depth, then
nobody can believe them so each moment was so intense that we
totally loved each other. It made a good film because it was totally
believable.
It’s a hard question but is there
anything in particular that stands out in your mind. Did Elvis do or
say anything that you recall more than anything else?
Yeah, it is a hard one because
everything that we said was very heavy duty, even when we weren’t
getting along. It was so intense when we did it and when we were on
film I even made things up so it was so off-the-wall. I mean, when
we kissed and I said that I was coming all unglued, it was just an
ad-lib.
That’s wonderful, I bet fans will
look out for that part with interest next time they watch the movie.
Well, this leads me to the inevitable question; how do you think the
world should remember Elvis Presley?
I think that he actually bought black
music to the world when the white man couldn’t accept it. He
literally introduced it even though Little Richard was on the scene.
I myself loved blues and I was raised on it in Chicago. Because he
bought it out, he set off everybody from the Beatles to the Rolling
Stones and everyone else.
Well, thanks for the chat,
Jennifer, I’m hoping to persuade you to come over to England as a
guest at one of our events by the way.
I’d never been to England, isn’t that
awful. I’d love to come, thanks for phoning.
Source:
Essential Interviews book, by Andrew Hearn. |
