Actor Austin Butler rose to fame on the Disney Channel and Nickelodeon, but he has certainly grown to become a successful actor since his childhood fame. In 2022, Butler was in the spotlight thanks to his immaculate portrayal of the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley. However, shooting the movie wasn't a piece of cake — and the incredible performance Austin Butler gave didn't come without a cost.
Today, we're taking a closer look at just why filming the successful musical biopic was difficult for the actor. From going home in tears to ending up in the hospital — keep on scrolling to find out the problematic moments Austin Butler had to deal with during the production of Elvis!
Baz Luhrmann Made Austin Butler Cry
In an interview with VMAN, the Elvis actor revealed that making the movie was everything but easy. In fact, he recalled just how the movie's director, Baz Luhrmann, tried to make him relate to the King of Rock and Roll more.
"When I was on my first day in the recording studio, Baz wanted me to get as close to performing as possible," Austin revealed. "He 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 revealed that the heckling served a purpose — he understood how Elvis Presley felt in a much better way. "When we were filming this moment when Elvis first got on stage and he’s getting heckled by the audience, I knew what that felt like. I went home in tears that night. I really did."
The actor also said he had talked to Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio (who starred in Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet and The Great Gatsby) before playing the role. "I had spoken to Leo before and he said: '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,'" Butler revealed.
Of course, this method isn't something most directors use, but Baz Luhrmann is known for pushing his actors to their limits, and so far it has always been worth it.
Austin Butler Ended Up Being Hospitalized
While critics and viewers have praised the actor's performance in the biopic, the success didn't come without a price to pay. Elvis had a huge effect on the actor's health, and in an interview with GQ Austin Butler even revealed that he had to go to the hospital because of the movie.
"You can lose touch with who you actually are. And I definitely had that when I finished Elvis — not knowing who I was," the actor revealed. "The next day I woke up at four in the morning with excruciating pain, and I was rushed to hospital. My body just started shutting down the day after I finished Elvis"
The actor was diagnosed with a virus simulating appendicitis symptoms, and he couldn't leave the bed for weeks. Luckily, the actor eventually recovered. Apart from this, Austin Butler's accent has also been a focal point of the movie. While the 31-year-old perfected Elvis' southern accent, he hasn't been able to shake it off since filming wrapped up.
Butler also often had to defend the fact that he still talks with his 'Elvis voice'. "You spend so much time obsessing about one thing, and it really is like muscular habits, your mouth can change. It's pretty amazing," Butler told Elle.
In another interview with Yahoo! Lifestyle, Butler admitted that the promotion hi did for Elvis also triggered the voice.
"It’s funny because certain situations trigger it, I think. You know, for one, being surrounded by his name everywhere and then two, it becomes, I think, as well something where, I mean, that was the voice that I spoke in for two years," he said, adding "it is so habitual at the end, you get done and you kind of don’t remember what your natural voice is."
Judging from the fact that the actor cried, ended up being hospitalized, and kind of lost his real voice — it seems as if filming Elvis was everything but easy. Luckily, it was all worth it as the movie became a success and ended up grossing over $281.5 million worldwide. And Austin Butler managed to shake off his image of a former child star — today he is known as a serious actor who gets cast by world-renowned directors like Quentin Tarantino and Baz Luhrman.