Long before Drake Milligan ever dreamed of playing a young Elvis Presley on the CMT series “Sun Records,” the Mansfield native had been prepping for the role. Since age 7, when Milligan saw an Elvis impersonator perform at a local Arlington burger joint, he says he’s been enamored with “The King.” By the time he was an early teen, both Milligan and his mom took to the road, paying tribute to the Vegas-era Elvis at various local events, jump suits and all.
“I took it all the way when I was a kid,” Milligan says. “Once I turned about 13 or so, I said I better stop wearing the jumpsuits and tried to hone my stage presence around looking a lot more like Elvis when he was younger. So, I did the ’50s Elvis, and my mom and I would travel around and do that. That was my summer gig. My summer job was traveling around as Elvis.”
In 2017, CMT was looking to cast an actor that could portray a young Elvis Presley for a new series it was producing titled, “Sun Records.” Many would audition for the role; however, Milligan, only 17 at the time, would be picked not just because he looked like Elvis, but because he also sang, played guitar, and moved like him too.
“Of course, I don’t think I realized either how much my life was going to change,” he says after finding out he landed the role. “I ended up leaving high school and going out to Memphis and starting this big TV show. So, I was kind of really just more focused on the task at hand. And I said, ‘All right, now it’s game time. I’ve got to make sure I do well at this job.’”
Copyright © 2024 | WordPress Theme by MH Themes
Leave a Reply