The Disney+ series National Treasure: Edge of History delved into rock n’ roll history this week. The episode led Jess Valenzuela (Lisette Olivera) and her friends to Graceland for an Elvis related clue. And Liam (Jake Austin Walker) created a distraction by performing an Elvis song.
[Warning: This article contains spoilers for the National Treasure: Edge of History episode “Graceland Gambit.”]
Walker and the cast of National Treasure: Edge of History spoke with Showbiz Cheat Sheet on Dec. 1. We’ve been holding this one until everyone got to see Walker’s Elvis rendition. National Treasure: Edge of History episodes premiere Wednesday on Disney+.
Jake Walker calls ‘Suspicious Minds’ ‘THE Elvis song’
Liam strums his guitar and sings “Suspicious Minds” to distract the crowd and security guards while Jess finds the clues. The choice of song was significant to Walker, who has also released an EP and singles as a recording artist himself.
“Oh my gosh, as a musician I just felt unbelievably spoiled,” Walker told Showbiz Cheat Sheet. “Also it’s one of the best songs ever made. It’s really been the renaissance of Elvis this year and I’m happy I got to be a blip on the map for that. Yeah, it was so cool.”
National Treasure screenwriters Cormac and Marianne Wibberley created Edge of History. When they cast Walker, they mentioned the musical moment.
He’s like, ‘Yeah, you’ll be at Graceland and you’ll play one of Elvis’s songs. We’re figuring out right now what we can get approved and stuff.’ I was like oh, cool. I was thinking oh, cool Elvis song. Then he’s like, ‘Oh yeah, so you’re doing “Suspicious Minds.” And you’re just like oh yeah, that’s the song. That’s the Elvis song.”
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‘National Treasure: Edge of History’ features Jake Austin Walker’s live Elvis performance
Often music in television shows have to be pre-recorded so that every take matches the same track. Walker said he got to perform “Suspicious Minds” live.
“The version you hear in that episode was done live that day,” Walker said. “We had to play it last minute live so they mixed the audio for that day. So you’re hearing that from me, from the guitar right then and there. So yeah, it was really special.”
Walker was also grateful for the chance to perform live after being cooped up in lockdown for so many years.
“That Elvis performance at Graceland, we did that about 10 times, 10 different ways,” Walker said. “So to be able to perform that song and get that riff down was really hard but really special. Once I completed it, you have it forever. Once you get it locked in, you don’t forget it.”
The ‘National Treasure: Edge of History’ cast at Graceland
All of Jess’s friends help her on the Graceland mission. Tasha (Zuri Reed) stays in the van. Oren (Antonio Cipriano) and Ethan (Jordan Rodrigues) are there too. Cipriano revealed the movie magic that simulated Graceland for National Treasure: Edge of History.
“We actually didn’t end up going to actual Graceland,” Cipriano said. “But yes, we all go on this very exciting little heist and just getting to see him do the song just insane justice is so cool. It was awesome. Watching it back you’re just like no way. That’s so awesome.”
If you like the Graceland episode, Rodrigues said the upcoming episodes only get better.
“Graceland is the episode where things start to kick off to a high gear and we start to work as a team for the first time,” Rodrigues said. “It’s just that’s when the rush of the National Treasure universe comes into play. It’s just one of my favorite episodes because of that. There’s so much that happens, its’ really, really cool.”
