Austin Butler on Being Elvis

Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis rocks its way into theaters on June 24, and BackstageOL’s Dave Morales got to sit with the star of the film Austin Butler.

Portraying one of the most iconic musicians of all time may sound like a daunting task to most but for Butler, it was a dream job.

“It’s always about challenge and overcoming fear and learning something about yourself,” said Butler.  “Getting to act is a profession that I’m so grateful to be a part of, so this one is that times a million.”

Morales was curious to know just how long it took Butler to learn all the mannerisms of Elvis Presley. “It was a slow process because there is so much out there…I was learning new things and studying new things during the entire course of filming so it was two years.”

Elvis – Austin Butler

Butler expressed that when portraying Elvis, his music isn’t something you sing but rather something you feel. “All his physicality that’s where it all stemmed from, it wasn’t about choreography, it was about being back in the gospel tent, the juke joints, and beal street and feeling the music that is so good that you can help but move.”

The Hard Choice

When portraying the King of rock n’ roll you’re going to get asked one question a lot. What is your favorite Elvis song? And like most other Elvis fans, for Butler, it is a hard choice.

“I can never answer that question, it’s like picking your favorite child but for me lately it’s been American Trilogy,” said Butler.

“It’s just so powerful and it’s what the song is about, unity and the performance, the scope of it and how it takes you up, and then you have the interlude and going back to the crescendo, it’s magic,” added Butler.

What helped Butler get into the mindset of portraying Elvis, was founding out that he had something in common with one of the greatest performers of all time.

“This has been an incredible gift to me in a way that has helped me redefine my relationship to fear and to anxiety, and to the feeling of confidence in the midst of fear.

Butler went on to say that “Knowing that he had stage fright, knowing that he was a shy kid, knowing all those things impacted me a lot.”

Having such a profound impact on his performance Butler was rather nervous when meeting Elvis’s family, Priscilla Presley, and Lisa Marie Presley. “So nervous, I have such reverence for them, I had a while where I couldn’t (hardly) speak,” said Butler.

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