Elvis Presley Admits 'Hollywood's Image of Me Was Wrong' in Rare Vulnerable Moment Featured in New Doc (Exclusive)

• Return of the King: The Fall & Rise of Elvis Presley comes to Netflix on Wednesday
• The film explores the story behind Presley’s now-iconic 1968 comeback special, Elvis
• "This is an aging superstar with one final chance to throw a Hail Mary and prolong his dying career," director Jason Hehir said

A new documentary about Elvis Presley reveals a rarely seen vulnerable side of the legendary singer.

Return of the King: The Fall & Rise of Elvis Presley, which premieres on Netflix on Wednesday, Nov. 13, explores the story behind Presley’s now-iconic 1968 comeback special, Elvis. The special — which aired on NBC — is widely credited with breathing new life into the star’s music career after many critics believed it to be over.

In a clip from the documentary by director Jason Hehir shared with PEOPLE ahead of the film’s release, the King of Rock and Roll — who died in 1977 at the age of 42 and starred in over 30 Hollywood movies — can be heard describing a period of immense creative and personal dissatisfaction during a string of onscreen flops.

"Hollywood’s image of me was wrong and I knew it, and I couldn’t do anything about it,” he said, adding, “I didn’t know what to do. I just felt I was obligated to things I didn’t fully believe in.”

“At a certain stage, I had no say so in it,” he said of his movie career. “I didn’t have final approval of the script, which means I couldn’t say, ‘This is not good for me,’ and so I became very discouraged.”

“They couldn’t have paid me no amount of money in the world to make me feel I had any satisfaction inside,” the icon added.

Another portion of the clip shared with PEOPLE shows Presley’s ex-wife, Priscilla Presley, viewing footage of the singer in the 1967 musical Double Trouble. She watches somberly as Elvis — a Grammy-winning musician —  sings the simple children’s song “Old MacDonald Had a Farm.”

“That to me is a crime,” The Naked Gun actress, 79, says while watching the scene. “It is a crime. To put him in that situation and sing that song. It made him a laughingstock. And he knew it.”

Priscilla has opened up previously about Elvis’ desire to create meaningful work. 

"Musically, I think he was pretty happy with how things had turned out,” she said in a December 2023 interview with The Times UK. “He loved knowing that his music meant something to people.”

“I remember sitting with him at Graceland listening to some of the songs he was recording,” she continued, “and I asked him why he sang so many ballads. He answered me straight away, 'Because those songs touch the heart. Life’s truth is in those songs.' He was right."

Return of the King: The Fall & Rise of Elvis Presley also features interviews with Bruce Springsteen, Baz Luhrmann, Conan O'Brien and others.

"I've always been captivated by stories that humanize iconic figures, and Elvis may be the most iconic of all. He was a cultural lightning rod in the 1950s, but by the mid-60s he was culturally irrelevant. As a fan I've always wondered why he didn't do more to satisfy his musical ambitions, and as a filmmaker I've always wondered how much it hurt Elvis the human to see Elvis the icon fade into obscurity," director Hehir told PEOPLE.

"I originally pitched this film as a sports movie: this is an aging superstar with one final chance to throw a Hail Mary and prolong his dying career. If he fails, he's finished. If he succeeds, he continues on. Not only did he succeed, he delivered one of the most indelible performances in music history. This is the story of a stunning triumph amidst overwhelming adversity." 

The film will be available for streaming on Netflix on Nov. 13.