[imagesource: Warner Bros. Pictures]
One does not simply transform into Elvis Presley and come out the other end completely intact.
For Austin Butler, becoming the King of Rock ‘n Roll landed him in the hospital.
While the 31-year-old Elvis star said that filming the biopic was “the greatest ride of my life”, it all caught up with him in the end.
In a red-carpet interview at the 2023 SAG Awards on Sunday, Austin revealed that he landed up in the emergency room straight after filming Elvis and before shooting off to another project.
“My body just started shutting down the day after I finished ‘Elvis,’” Butler recalled:
Austin Butler red carpet interview at the SAG awards 💫 pic.twitter.com/HPUP3kDf2u
— ᥫ᭡ (@wonderofaustin) February 27, 2023
The New York Post reports that the actor “woke up at four in the morning with excruciating pain” and was “rushed to hospital”, in May 2022, which was due to a virus he contracted that simulated the symptoms of appendicitis.
Notice Austin’s iconic Elvis-like gruffness? That also landed him in some trouble.
He’s been incredibly committed to the rockstar voice as he continues to talk like the late singer despite the movie being done and dusted:
“I don’t think I sound like him still, but I guess I must because I hear it a lot,” the actor said. “I often liken it to when somebody lives in another country for a long time, and I had three years where that was my only focus in life. So, I’m sure there’s just pieces of my DNA that will always be linked in that way.”
His deepened voice is something that a lot of people have called out as cringe:
Voice coach Irene Bartlett, who was hired to work with Butler in 2019, defended his ever-lasting Elvis accent, telling ABC Gold Coast that he spent years building a “connection” with Elvis’ personality and was fully committed to playing the part.
“I feel sorry people are saying that, you know, it’s still acting [but] he’s actually taken [the voice] on board,” she said. “I don’t know how long that will last, or if it’s going to be there forever.”
She also noted that his voice change was a strain on him, and it did indeed become a health issue as he said he lost it while singing Elvis’ version of ‘Never Been to Spain’:
“We did so many takes. And at a certain point, I just lost my voice,” Butler explained. “So then I went on vocal rest for a couple days, and I was able to come back.”
Austin was nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role at the 2023 SAG Awards but didn’t win.
However, he did take home the best actor Golden Globe award.
At least the hectic transformation wasn’t for nought.
[source:nypost]
