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Having started his career playing background
characters in Hollywood productions, Butler went on to get parts
in teen shows "Hannah Montana," "iCarly," and "Switched at
Birth," before landing a small part in "Once Upon a Time in
Hollywood."
Now, he's breaking out the hip-swiveling moves and the verbal
cadence of Elvis Presley in Luhrmann's musical film about the
singer and actor's trials and tribulations.
"I just thought if I couldn't find someone to play Elvis, I
wouldn't do it," Luhrmann told Reuters.
"(Butler) sent this video in, which was not an audition, it was
him breaking down because he lost his mom the same (age) as
Elvis did and he had a nightmare and he goes downstairs and puts
the iPhone on and he sings 'Unchained Melody'... his agent says
'send that to Baz' and so that begins the process but once he
came in, he was sort of down Elvis street when I met him."
However, Butler says he wasn't as far "down Elvis street" as he
would have liked when he started filming his first performance,
a rendition of Presley's 1968 televised concert after a year and
a half of preparation.
"I felt so much responsibility and what comes with that is an
incredible amount of terror. I was so scared," Butler said.
"I got on stage and the music started... I looked down and saw
the leather on my arm and the rings on my fingers and it felt
like I was looking out of his eyes. It was the most remarkable
out-of-body experience."
After three years of embodying Elvis since his 2019 casting,
Butler's journey wrapped up at the film's world premiere at the
Cannes Film Festival in May.
"I hadn't seen the film and it was part way through act one and
I just took this huge sigh and I just felt this weight off of
me," he said.
"Elvis" begins its global cinema rollout from Wednesday.
(Reporting by Rollo Ross, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)
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