Austin Butler has opened up about his intense preparation for playing Elvis Presley in Elvis.
In a new interview, Butler revealed that he didn’t see his family “for about three years” while the film was in production.
The 31-year-old explained: “I was prepping with [director Baz Luhrmann], and then I went to Australia. I had months where I wouldn’t talk to anybody.
“And when I did, the only thing I was ever thinking about was Elvis. I was speaking in his voice the whole time,” he told singer Janelle Monáe in an interview forVariety.
The actor stars opposite Tom Hanks in Elvis, Luhrmann’s film about the rock’n’roll singer’s life and career that was released in June.
Last week, the actor won a People’s Choice Award for his performance in the film.
In a previous interview, Butler revealed that he left the set of Elvis “in tears” one day after director Luhrmann encouraged studio executives to heckle him while he was singing.
He told VMAN: “[Luhrmann] 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.
“So then they were making fun of me and stuff while I was singing.”
Butler also said that Leonardo DiCaprio had warned him about Luhrmann’s unusual approach to filmmaking.
The actor, who worked with the director on Romeo + Juliet, apparently told him: “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.”
After filming for Elvis wrapped in March 2021, Butler was rushed to hospital when his body “started shutting down”.
In an interview with GQ, Butler described how he wrapped filming in March 2021, only to be diagnosed with a virus that has the same symptoms as appendicitis, leaving him bedridden.
“I woke up at four in the morning with excruciating pain, and I was rushed to hospital,” Butler said.
“My body just started shutting down the day after I finished Elvis.”
