Austin Butler’s portrayal of music legend Elvis Presley in the upcoming biopic Elvis is being hailed as the actor’s career-defining role, but in a new interview with GQ, Austin said that the experience of filming the film was so intense that he had to go to the hospital right after it completed.
Austin was the first cast as Elvis Presley in the summer of 2019. Elvis was supposed to start filming in March 2020 but owing to the COVID-19 epidemic, it was pushed back about six months. The film didn’t wrap until March 2021, after production began in September 2020.
Austin’s work ethic and immersion in his performance as Elvis Presley were unlike any other actor he’d ever worked with, according to director Baz Luhrmann. Austin’s perfected Southern drawl wasn’t his natural speaking voice “until recently,” according to the director.
