The 30-year-old actor plays the King of Rock n Roll in the upcoming Baz Luhrmann-directed biopic..
Austin Butler is receiving a lot of praise for his role as Elvis Presley. Butler plays the King of Rock n Roll in the upcoming Baz Luhrmann-directed biopic, out in June. Not only are critics praising the performance, the 30-year-old actor has gotten rave reviews from Elvis’ former wife, Priscilla Presley and daughter, Lisa Marie Presley.
In an interview with the New York Times, Butler revealed that the positive response from Lisa Marie, “brought me to tears.”
“I want everybody to love the film, obviously, but the pressure I have really felt is doing justice to Elvis,” Butler said in the interview. Earlier this month, Lisa Marie took to Instagram to share her thoughts about the film. After months away from the platform, the daughter of Elvis and Priscilla wrote a touching post after a privately screening the film, twice.
In a post on Instagram, Lisa Marie called the film, “nothing short of spectacular” and “absolutely exquisite.”
“Austin Butler channeled and embodied my father’s heart and soul beautifully,” she wrote next to a picture of the film’s promotional poster. “In my humble opinion, his performance is unprecedented and FINALLY done accurately and respectfully. (If he doesn’t get an Oscar for this, I will eat my own foot, haha.) You can feel and witness Baz’s pure love, care, and respect for my father throughout this beautiful film, and it is finally something that myself and my children and their children can be proud of forever.”
Lisa Marie wrote that she was moved to tears after seeing her children’s reaction to the film. The singer also shared that she was heartbroken that her son, Benjamin Keough, wasn’t alive to see the film.
“It breaks my heart that my son isn’t here to see it. He would have absolutely loved it as well. I can’t tell you enough how much I love this film and I hope you love it too,” she wrote. “Everyone involved poured their hearts and souls into it, which is evidenced in their performances. Baz, your utter genius combined with your love and respect for my father and this project is just so beautiful and so inspiring. I know I'm being repetitive, but I don’t care, Thank you for setting the record straight in such a deeply profound and artistic way. Love you ~LMP.”
Prior to Lisa Marie, Priscilla --who was married to Elvis from 1967-1973 -- praised Butler for his “Outstanding performance.” Pricilla also joined Butler – in coordinating Prada outfits – during the 2022 Met Gala.
In a recent interview with GQ, Butler opened up about how the amount of dedication and work he put into the role of the late musician, caused his body to shut down after production.
"My body just started shutting down the day after I finished Elvis," Austin explained to GQ. "The next day I woke up at four in the morning with excruciating pain, and I was rushed to the hospital." As for the diagnosis, the actor says he suffered from a virus that simulates appendicitis and ultimately ended up spending a full week bedridden.
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