described the film as one that will “delve into their complex dynamic spanning over 20 years, from Presley’s rise to fame to his unprecedented stardom, against the backdrop of the evolving cultural landscape and the loss of innocence in America.” It was this generous thing that he just did.”Įlvis is set to chronicle Presley’s rise to fame and his relationship with manager Col. He didn’t call me beforehand, he didn’t call me after. Unaware of Washington’s call, Butler said, “I was so grateful for that. I’ve never seen anyone who devotes every single second of their lives to perfecting a role,'” Luhrmann recalled of the conversation. I’m telling you, his work ethic is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Denzel Washington just said, in the most incredibly emotional and direct way, ‘Look, I’ve just been onstage with this young actor. “I get a phone call out of the blue from Denzel Washington, who I did not know. He’d start telling me thoughts about the scene, and suddenly I’ve got Denzel almost as an acting coach.” Washington also called Luhrmann to recommend Butler for the Elvis role. Butler explained that at the time he memorized the entire script and would try to arrive at the theater earlier than Washington, something Washington noticed.īutler said Washington “started giving me acting advice, and he really took me under his wing. I was like, ‘That’s not going to happen.’ So, I went into the quickest mentality of ‘I’m not going to try to be his friend, I’m just going to try to do work as well as I possibly can,'” he said. “There’s that thing where you meet your heroes, and you want to be their best friend. It was Elvis’s influences and Elvis himself and nothing else,” he said.īutler also later reflected on finding support from Denzel Washington, whom he worked with in the 2018 Broadway production of Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh. “That gave me permission, because up till that point, I was only reading everything to do with Elvis. He said his apartment had “images of Elvis everywhere, from every time period.” He eventually asked Hanks for advice on how he’s managed to keep his sanity in his work over time, to which Butler recalled Hanks advising, “‘Every day I try to read something that has nothing to do with the job that I’m doing.'” When production shut down after Tom Hanks was diagnosed and hospitalized with COVID-19, Butler chose to remain in Australia to continue studying Elvis as a means of digging deeper into his role.
“My family said I didn’t sound like me anymore,” he told the publication. He also met Presley’s ex-wife, Priscilla Presley, who expressed her support to the actor.Īfter filming, Butler said he would appear different, even among family. He also worked with a movement coach to move like Elvis, as well as learned to talk and sing like him and studied animals that resembled the late singer. The role was one Butler found himself engulfed in as he sought to precisely emulate the musical icon as much as he could, by reading, watching and listening to everything Elvis. “My body just started shutting down the day after I finished Elvis,” he said.
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