Austin Butler as Elvis Presley: “I wanted to show who he was when he was in an empty room at night”

If a biopic was really missing in the history of cinema, it was that of Elvis Presley. The singer born in Memphis became an emblem of rock and roll and what better than the Australian Buz Luhrman (Moulin Rouge, The Great Gatsby) to carry out this project on the big screen. The film simply called Elvis (needs no further explanation), will hit theaters on July 14.

This film traces the childhood years of Elvis Presley when, after his father spent time in prison, he with his mother and siblings moved to Tupelo, Mississippi, a place that was inhabited mostly by African-Americans who would end up having a huge influence on his musical career.

The story of the “King”, masterfully interpreted by austin butler, is portrayed through the point of view of her complicated relationship with her enigmatic manager, Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks). Throughout the film, the complex dynamic between the two over their 20-year career deepens.

Butler’s work in coming up with Presley’s tones and movements is truly impressive. With a short acting career, Austin, a 30-year-old Californian, managed to win the role of him when he auditioned with the theme “Unchained Melody” that impressed the director and he chose him immediately. Clearly, he was not wrong. In communication with Infobae, Butler He told us about the preparation for this iconic role.

Elvis was a born seducer: his voice when speaking, his gaze, his movements on stage, how did you prepare for this role and manage to transmit all that sensuality, charisma and talent?

-I did so many things for a year and a half….(the movie was hit by the pandemic and suffered several interruptions, even Tom Hanks got COVID) and I tried everything. Some things worked and some didn’t. It was like a balance between those specific things like watching a clip of him on stage and recording every part of his body: seeing what his fingers were doing, what his eyes were doing, what his gestures were doing, everything. There was a lot of that, of memorizing monologues that he gave on stage when he was telling jokes or that kind of thing. Also the interviews he gave and I tried to incorporate everything in whatever way possible.

Despite the fact that all these things are not seen in the film, they helped me to understand him, to understand his humor, understand his voice that changed over the years. So, there were many particular things. But in conclusion, the idea was to find his keys and his humanity. We all saw caricatures of him or the icon that he was, but I was fascinated by the idea of ​​who he was when he was in an empty room at night..

As we mentioned before, the story of Elvis must be understood from the hand of his manager, because although this film is a biopic, it is also the life story of Colonel Tom Parker. Since Warner Bros. (producer of the film) published an interview in which hanks refers to his role: “He was both a genius and a scoundrel. He was a very disciplined man, a clever and evil businessman, and a tight-fisted penny squeezer, but also a pioneer in a great kind of show business that didn’t exist until Elvis Presley came along. He knew instantly that he was a unique artist, he saw his great potential and he knew that if he didn’t make a lot of money from him, someone else would.”

Elvis achieved what no one had been able to achieve until now: being a boy raised in a humble area who becomes one of the most famous men on the planet. “It’s the American dream. He also embodied so many times that it seems that he lived 100 years; it’s unbelievable that he only lived to 42″, Butler commented in a press release.

-Although it’s too hasty to say it, I think I’m talking to a future Oscar nominee…

-Oh God, I think I should live from day to day. It makes me feel very good what you said and I am very flattered that you liked the movie. It feels really good because we work so hard together on set and for people to enjoy it, it makes me really happy.

Butler He has many chances to walk down the red carpets that are coming. We know that the industry is very fond of biopics of music icons (remember how successful it was Bohemian Rhapsody from the hand of rami maleck), so we will have to wait for the moment of the nominations. For now, you can enjoy Elvis in movie theaters.

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