It takes a lot of love and hard work! ElvisStar Austin ButlerOpened up about the methods director Baz Luhrmann used to get him into character — some ending up too intense for the actor to handle.
“When I was on my first day in the recording studio, Baz wanted me to get as close to performing as possible,” Butler, 30, revealed during an interview with VMANPublished Wednesday, July 27, 2007. “He had all the executives and everybody from RCA, who were back in the offices, he brought them into the recording studio and he goes, ‘I want you all to sit facing Austin’ … and he told them to heckle me.”
While the Carrie DiariesAn alum explained to the actor that the bullying was done to help him understand. Elvis Presley’sIt was difficult to accept the uncomfortable moment during a particular performance in the film.
Austin Butler is Elvis. Hugh Stewart
“They were making fun of me and stuff while I was singing,” he recalled, adding, “I went home in tears that night. I really did.”
Butler was not prepared for the out-of box methods Luhrmann, now 59, used during filming. The California native revealed that VMANHe was warned previously Leonardo DiCaprio, who worked with the filmmaker on 1996’s Romeo + Juliet and 2013’sThe Great GatsbyIt is not difficult to imagine the experience.
“I had spoken to Leo before and he said, ‘Baz is gonna push you in ways you didn’t know somebody could. He’s gonna push you off balance and keep you off balance,’” Butler said.
Despite the difficulties, Luhrmann’s methods clearly worked for the At Birth, switched actor, who got so into his role, he’s still having trouble shaking off the lake rock musician’s signature speaking voice.
“I didn’t do anything else for two years [apart from working on Elvis], that’s such a large chunk of life. I’m not surprised that it clicks in,” Butler told Elle AustraliaAbout his time in the biopic. “Because I’m a shy person, and when I know that there’s bits of Elvis that I’d have to click into in order to go out on stage and be in front of a ton of people, being surrounded by his name everywhere, there’s triggers.”
He added, “You spend so much time obsessing about one thing, and it really is like muscular habits, your mouth can change.”
Butler’s body also took a toll while filming. The movie was wrapped in March 2021. Once Upon a Time… In HollywoodStar immediately dealt with a medical emergency. “The next day I woke up at 4 in the morning with excruciating pain, and I was rushed to the hospital,” Butler toldGQInterview published May 25, 2005. “My body just started shutting down the day after I finished Elvis.”
The Shannara ChroniclesAlum was initially diagnosed with an appendicitis-triggering virus. After being hospitalized for a week, he was eventually able to recover.
Butler stars alongside in the epic film Tom Hanks, Olivia DeJonge, Kodi Smit-McPheeMore. ElvisIn theaters June 1, and will likely start streaming on HBO Max this fall.
