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Elvis Presley’s love for Christmas was legendary. From extravagant holiday gifts to over-the-top decorations, the King knew how to celebrate. So, it’s appropriate that the TV network that’s made Christmas a huge part of its brand has filmed not one but two different Christmas movies at Presley’s home of Graceland.
Hallmark Channel’s Christmas at Graceland and Christmas at Graceland: Home for the Holidays both offer viewers a peek inside Elvis’s iconic Memphis estate. One also features an appearance from Elvis’s former wife, Priscilla Presley.
‘Christmas at Graceland’ was shot on location and stars Kellie Pickler
Christmas at Graceland aired in 2018. It stars Kellie Pickler as Laurel, a Chicago-based executive who travels to Memphis to close a big deal. While in town, she bumps into an old flame named Clay (Wes Brown), a local music promoter. He reminds her of their days together as a performing duo on the brink of stardom and reignites her dreams of making music.
Making the movie was “special,” Pickler said in a behind-the-scenes video for Hallmark Channel, partly because she got to “experience what it would be like here at Graceland during Christmas.”
“Nobody ever gets to go behind those velvet ropes,” she added. “I definitely don’t take it for granted … it’s kind of surreal.”
Not only was the movie shot on location at Graceland, but it also incorporated some of the home’s iconic Christmas decor, such as the blue lights lining the driveway. Pickler even had a chance to play Elvis’s piano.
‘Christmas at Graceland: Home for the Holidays’ features Priscilla Presley
Hallmark returned to Memphis in 2019 to make a second movie in the King of Rock and Roll’s home. Christmas at Graceland: Home for the Holidays was also filmed at Graceland. Plus, it features a special appearance from Elvis’s wife, Priscilla Presley.
The movie stars Kaitlin Doubleday as a museum curator who has spent the past few years living abroad. She returns home to Memphis for the holiday and takes a job as a nanny to wealthy widower Owen Reed’s (Adrian Grenier) three children. She helps embrace his more spontaneous side while caring for his kids and helping him prepare for his company’s fundraiser at Graceland.
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“Shooting in Graceland was fascinating,” Doubleday told Media Village.
Making the movie also gave her a better appreciation of Elvis.
“I never really quite understood what the obsession was until I did the Graceland tour,” she said. “That gave me a completely different understanding of just how special he was … Even the way he gave back, like buying cars for people at a local car dealer. He constantly gave back and was obsessed with Christmas. Imagine the biggest celebrity in the world but also a family man who wanted to be at home at Christmas with his mom.”
Meeting Priscilla Presley was also a thrill.
“Priscilla is like the sweetest woman alive,” Doubleday said.
“She explained how to her, Graceland felt like a time warp, and it’s like she never left,” the actor added. “We talked about many things, like if she was lonely when she lived there because she was so young, and living with the most famous person in the world. She told me there were some tough times; she was lonely, but they were very much in love.”
Where to watch Hallmark’s Graceland Christmas movies
Christmas at Graceland is streaming on Peacock and Hallmark Movies Now.
Christmas at Graceland: Home for the Holidays is streaming on Hallmark Movies Now. It’s also available on Hoopla.
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