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- 45 Years After His Death, Austin Butler Has Brought Elvis Presley Back to Life
45 Years After His Death, Austin Butler Has Brought Elvis Presley Back to Life
by
Basmah Qazi
Warner Bros.
45 years after his death, Elvis Presley has been reincarnated — and no, I’m not talking about his impersonators walking along the streets of Las Vegas. Right now, Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis — and its leading man Austin Butler — are all anyone can talk about, and the movie hasn’t even been released yet.
Butler, who has previously appeared in much smaller roles in films such as Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, is experiencing new levels of fame. Something he hasn’t fully managed to wrap his head around.
Sitting in the Sydney Park Hyatt for a day of promoting the new film, Butler’s tousled blonde hair and boyish charm may have screamed “it factor”, but behind his quiet confidence was a man filled with humility.
“At the core of it all, I’m just grateful,” Butler told POPSUGAR Australia. “I’m so happy. We worked so hard on this movie and it was such a huge chunk of my life and the fact that people are seeing it and, it’s affecting them in a way where they’re coming out feeling positive — it’s so good and I just feel so happy.”
Butler went from starring as a heartthrob in teen shows like Switched at Birth and The Carrie Diaries, to now having people speculate whether or not he’ll win the Oscar for his role as the King of Rock. His performance in the movie is spot on, and it’s no surprise, because the actor admits to having lived and breathed Elvis for two years throughout the making of the movie.
“I didn’t quite know what to do with myself when I finished [filming],” Butler admitted, explaining: “It’s a bizarre thing when you spend two years doing nothing else but obsessing over one thing”.
From the moment he received the call, Butler dived deep into the world of Elvis Presley, researching and working with a dialect coach to help transform his Californian accent into Presley’s southern drawl.
“I don’t think there’s one thing out there that I didn’t see,” he said. “The whole first step for me was taking in everything, and there is a seemingly endless well of information out there.
“So I read every book on his life, watched every bit of footage and listened to every interview he ever gave,” he explained.
Through that, Butler was able to “start finding these keys, the things that really ring true to [Elvis’] humanity”.
“There was a lot of technical things, but a lot of time just living with it,” Butler said. “I had a year and a half before we started shooting so I had a long time.”
In recent months, fans have made videos comparing Butler’s voice before the making of Elvis to now. Compared to the pre-Elvis videos, his tone is much deeper and his accent sounds strikingly similar to the late musician. It seems that despite filming having wrapped up months ago, a part of Elvis has still remained with the star. It’s something Butler admits hasn’t been easy to shake.
“Suddenly you’ve crossed the finish line and you’re done, and while I felt really proud of all that we’ve done, it’s not an easy transition back,” he said.
Butler’s work has paid off. From his mannerisms to the way he moves, Butler managed to bring Elvis back to life on the big screen, and his performance in Elvis is one to watch.
Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis is out in HOYTS Cinemas nationwide on June 23.
