--- title: "Elvis and Nixon" Clip With Kevin Spacey and Michael Shannon description: Kevin Spacey and Michael Shannon discuss playing Nixon and Elvis, respectively, in the historical comedy "Elvis and Nixon." canonical: https://time.com/4272786/kevin-spacey-michael-shannon-elvis-and-nixon/ author: Eliza Berman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-29T13:00:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T16:14:22.570Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Kevin Spacey and Michael Shannon Revive a President and a King in 'Elvis and Nixon' og:description: Kevin Spacey and Michael Shannon discuss playing Nixon and Elvis, respectively, in the historical comedy "Elvis and Nixon." og:url: https://time.com/4272786/kevin-spacey-michael-shannon-elvis-and-nixon/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt19e2bf6ac7fd91af/69888c9ca988caee256b727f/elvis-and-nixon.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Kevin Spacey stars as Richard Nixon (left) and Michael Shannon stars as Elvis Presley (right) in Liza Johnson’s ELVIS & NIXON, an Amazon Studios / Bleecker Street release. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Kevin Spacey and Michael Shannon Revive a President and a King in 'Elvis and Nixon' twitter:description: Kevin Spacey and Michael Shannon discuss playing Nixon and Elvis, respectively, in the historical comedy "Elvis and Nixon." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt19e2bf6ac7fd91af/69888c9ca988caee256b727f/elvis-and-nixon.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Kevin Spacey and Michael Shannon Revive a President and a King in _Elvis and Nixon_  by [Eliza Berman](https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Mar 29, 2016 1:00 PM UTC  Kevin Spacey stars as Richard Nixon (left) and Michael Shannon stars as Elvis Presley (right) in Liza Johnson’s ELVIS & NIXON, an Amazon Studios / Bleecker Street release. Kevin Spacey stars as Richard Nixon (left) and Michael Shannon stars as Elvis Presley (right) in Liza Johnson’s ELVIS & NIXON, an Amazon Studios / Bleecker Street release.Steve Dietl / Amazon Studios & Bleecker Street  by [Eliza Berman](https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Mar 29, 2016 1:00 PM UTC The most requested [photo](http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2007228%5F2007230%5F2007256,00.html) in the National Archives is not, officially speaking, from a rare meeting of two heads of state, though one might argue that a portrait of President Richard M. Nixon and Elvis Presley fits that bill, given that the former was the leader of the free world and the latter was the King. The movie _Elvis and Nixon_, which will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in April and hit theaters nationwide April 22, tells the story behind the two men’s unexpected meeting on Dec. 21, 1970. Director Liza Johnson’s historical comedy stars Kevin Spacey as the real-life president (in contrast to the [fictional one](http://time.com/4150926/republican-debate-house-of-cards/) he’s most often associated with) and Michael Shannon as the rock and roll legend. As the actors explain in the exclusive featurette above, Elvis was concerned about the direction in which the country was headed and hoped to speak to the Commander in Chief about how he might be able to help. Between protests of the Vietnam War, rampant drug use and what he considered to be a pervasive lack of respect for law enforcement, the King thought he might be able to influence the youth to adhere more closely to the views he shared, perhaps surprisingly, with the president. Shannon’s Presley is delightfully sincere in his aims, more than a mere mirror image of an icon. As the actor puts it, “I tried to make sure I didn’t get too caught up in impersonation and that I devoted as much energy to contemplating what was going on inside of him as I did to trying to seem like him on the outside.” Spacey’s Nixon, by contrast, is as square as they come, but gradually warms to the caped crusader who’s made himself perhaps a little too comfortable in the White House. With a cast rounded out by Colin Hanks, Alex Pettyfer, Johnny Knoxville and Sky Ferreira, _Elvis and Nixon_ offers a glimpse into the relationship between the Oval Office and pop culture royalty long before Beyoncé was a [glimmer in Obama’s eye](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/president-obama-friendship-jay-z-380324). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4272786/kevin-spacey-michael-shannon-elvis-and-nixon/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4272786/kevin-spacey-michael-shannon-elvis-and-nixon/"},"headline":"Kevin Spacey and Michael Shannon Revive a President and a King in Elvis and Nixon","datePublished":"2016-03-29T13:00:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T16:14:22.570Z","description":"Spacey plays the former president and Shannon revives the King in the historical comedy","url":"https://time.com/4272786/kevin-spacey-michael-shannon-elvis-and-nixon/","keywords":["movies","Kevin Spacey","elvis","nixon"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt19e2bf6ac7fd91af/69888c9ca988caee256b727f/elvis-and-nixon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliza Berman","jobTitle":"Berman is a senior editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt19e2bf6ac7fd91af/69888c9ca988caee256b727f/elvis-and-nixon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Kevin Spacey stars as Richard Nixon (left) and Michael Shannon stars as Elvis Presley (right) in Liza Johnson’s ELVIS & NIXON, an Amazon Studios / Bleecker Street release.","caption":"Kevin Spacey stars as Richard Nixon (left) and Michael Shannon stars as Elvis Presley (right) in Liza Johnson’s ELVIS & NIXON, an Amazon Studios / Bleecker Street release.","creditText":"Steve Dietl / Amazon Studios & Bleecker Street","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4272786/kevin-spacey-michael-shannon-elvis-and-nixon/","name":"Kevin Spacey and Michael Shannon Revive a President and a King in Elvis and Nixon"}}]}] ```