How Austin Butler overcame his fear of becoming Elvis

MANILA, Philippines — Austin Butler recently opened up about feeling and overcoming the fear of failing the family, fans and legacy of the “King of Rock ‘N Roll” when he took on the title role in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis.

Now screening in Philippine theaters nationwide, the film from Warner Bros. Pictures explores the life and music of Elvis Presley (Butler) through the lens of his controversial relationship with his manager, Colonel Tom Parker (played by Oscar winner Tom Hanks). Their “partnership” spanned over two decades — from his rise to fame to unprecedented stardom — unfolding against the backdrop of America’s shifting cultural landscape in the ‘50s to the ‘70s.

After having seen the film, we dare say that “a star is born.” Butler is simply stunning and haunting in his transformation as Elvis. Even if you’re a non-Elvis fan, the 30-year-old’s portrayal will send you “googling” about the life of this music icon who reportedly sold a billion records, not to mention inspired a fevered fandom, at a time when social media was nowhere present to spread the word.

More importantly, Butler succeeds in his intention to present the “most famous man on the planet,” who passed away in 1977 at the age of 42, as “first and foremost human.”

So, how did Luhrmann find Butler? It turned out Denzel Washington was partly responsible for Butler’s biggest break yet. The Hollywood star highly recommended the young actor whom he worked with on Broadway. Prior to Elvis, Butler had a supporting role in the 2019 film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

Luhrmann recalled in the production notes: “I knew I couldn’t make this film if the casting wasn’t absolutely right, and we searched thoroughly for an actor with the ability to evoke the singular natural movement and vocal qualities of this peerless star, but also the inner vulnerability of the artist.”

“I had heard about Austin Butler from his stand-out role opposite Denzel Washington in The Iceman Cometh on Broadway, and then I got a call from Denzel, whom I do not know, going out of his way to state that this young actor had a work ethic like no one else he had seen before,” added the Australian filmmaker behind Moulin Rouge and The Great Gatsby.

“Through a journey of extensive screen testing, music and performance workshops, I knew unequivocally that I had found someone who could embody the spirit of one of the world’s most iconic musical figures.”

‘Obsessing’ over Elvis

During a global virtual presscon attended by The STAR and other press members from Asia and Latin America, Butler gave a glimpse into what it was like having to embody Elvis for almost three years of his life.

He shared, “I had those two years where I really didn’t do anything else but just obsess.”

He started reading and watching everything about Elvis’ life, friends and relationships and listened only to his music. He apparently wanted the role so badly that even before auditions started, he sent Luhrmann a video of himself playing the piano and performing the ‘50s classic Unchained Melody.

Internalizing Elvis’ physicality, showmanship and legendary moves on stage, Butler had help from a movement coach named Polly Bennett, plus a dialect coach, vocal coach and even karate instructor.

“I tried to be as meticulous as possible but at the end of the day, it was all about finding his humanity. Because what I was most fascinated by was stripping away the icon, the caricatures or the Halloween costumes of Elvis, and getting down to who he was in an empty room by himself at the end of the day,” he said during the presscon recorded live from Elvis’ Graceland estate in Memphis.

“How did he wake up in the morning? What was his inner life? And he was an incredibly sensitive spiritual man. So, it was just finding how he evolved over the years and that was sort of my process,” he added.

Butler also spoke about the great sense of responsibility he felt while playing a revered pop culture figure.

“My relationship to fear has changed a lot because of the amount of pressure I felt during this whole process. I mean, it was such a responsibility. I had such a fear that I was going to fail him and fail his legacy or his family and all the fans around the world who loved him so much. That was just so much responsibility — to feel fear every day,” he revealed.

Interestingly, Butler sought comfort in Elvis’ life story to cope with the tremendous pressure he was under. “There was such a good lesson in it because (Elvis) had moments like in ‘68 where his career was on the line, his life felt like it was on the line. And there were many moments in his life where he talked about his own stage fright. So I can always sort of rest in the fact that Elvis felt fear as well but he did extraordinary things. That was really a huge thing for me.”

He also stressed that having to work with co-stars, who breathed life into the Black-American music icons from the era and area that Elvis belonged to, helped him put the singer’s life in context. The lead actor was joined in the press junket by Kelvin Harrison Jr. as BB King, singer-songwriter Yola as Sister Rosetta Tharpe and model Alton Mason as Little Richard. Olivia DeJonge, the actress who essays the role of Elvis’ wife Priscilla Presley, was also present.

Butler said, “(That is) the fact that we do not have Elvis without Black music and giving credit where credit is due, because the narrative has been told in so many different ways. And I’m just so proud of the fact that we got to be a part of this film and you guys (co-actors) did such an incredible job. I just feel so proud of this film. I’m rambling now, but I love this film.”

Channeling Elvis’ voice

One of the biggest questions from the press was how much of the singing in the film was done by Butler himself.

On his social media, Luhrmann recently posted an early camera test of Butler doing a version of the Elvis hit Trouble. He wanted to make it clear that “Austin sings all of the young Elvis in the movie” and that even before he had vocal studies for two years, “I feel that Austin is channeling the vocal qualities of Elvis.”

Butler addressed this question at length during the press event while looking back on his preparation for the movie.

“It was really a year and a half before I started shooting. At first, you look at it and it seems impossible because you’re seeing the amount of footage that’s out there, the amount of recordings of his voice and I was struck by how his voice changed over the years,” he said.

Butler said Elvis in the ‘50s sounded totally different from Elvis in the ‘60s or ‘70s. “So, you got all these different voices. So, it was finding how (the voice) evolved over time. I’d spend a day sort of living in one of them playing,” he added.

He further noted that because there’s been “so many caricatures” of Elvis that he doubled down on “making it feel to me like this was my life, that I’m seeing from inside of him and not falling into any traps because it’s really hard not to because we all have this idea of what he sounds like.”

There were particular moments during filming that became Butler’s “touchstones” to keep his performance authentic and on fire.

He cited his going to Nashville with Luhrmann and recording the Gospel numbers in the film there, including a scene where a young Elvis goes into a gospel tent and something “spiritually” intense happens.

“We recorded that in Nashville and it’s a tiny church. And in that moment, I was in the midst of, I think, about 30 of the most incredible gospel singers I’ve ever heard in my life,” Butler shared.

“I remember the first person starting to sing and I got chills. Then as the voices came together, tears came out of my eyes. And then, there’s everybody stomping their feet and suddenly, I start feeling, I’m standing, they let me stand in the center, and I’m stomping my feet. And I felt that moment that little Elvis had, you know, rapture.

“And so any moment that I didn’t feel that, I knew that I was off. Those became my touchstones of getting back to that feeling, because I’m doing it too externally now. (There were) a lot of things like that.”