 |
| Austin Butler before the release of Elvis. He is nominated for Best Actor. Chantal Anderson |
It's been a very emotional month for Austin Butler, who was nominated for the best actor Oscar on Tuesday for his charming and often haunting performance as the title character in Baz Luhrmann's frenetic biopic Elvis.
Just two weeks ago, Butler won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor when Priscilla Presley and Lisa Her Marie Presley sat in the audience, mesmerized and moved. Lisa Marie passed away at 54, just two days after she died.
In a call shortly after the announcement, Butler, 31, said, "It's been a rollercoaster ride lately. There are so many peaks and deep valleys of sadness, but moments like these are special and I will embrace them." "But I also want Lisa Marie to be here right now to be a part of it and to celebrate this."
Her death made the project even more meaningful for the actor. "I am so grateful for every moment she spends with her," Butler said, and how lucky we are to cherish her for the rest of her life. ”
 |
| A butler appears in one scene of the movie. "I've come to love Elvis so much. I feel deeply that he's my best friend and part of his family," he told Warner Bros. |
A relative newcomer to the big screen, having beaten out familiar names like Harry Styles and Ansel Elgort, Butler was in many ways a highly coveted role. So I had to overcome many fears to take the first step.
What he found "very scary" was thinking about "the many ways it could have gone wrong."
Not only did he pull it off, but he described it as surreal about how it feels to be recognized at the highest level. "In moments like this, I try to get in touch with what it was like to make a movie because so much time has passed that it almost feels like a distant memory."
"I'm so proud of you all," he continued, referring to the eight Oscar nominees on Tuesday, including the best picture the film received.
After Butler gave his acceptance speech at the Golden Globes, his social media commented that the low-voiced actor sounded like the real rocker he played, and how his accent changed after filming. I commented on how it changed. Word of mouth spread about the change. I was. I wonder if it was. On the phone, he had a deep Elvis-like draw, but he wasn't quite as Elvis-like as at The Globe Theater.
He added that his tone has deepened, thanks to his voice work and other projects.
Of how the film helped introduce the Elvis phenomenon to a younger generation that didn't feel as close to rock stars as ages past, Butler said that building that bridge was "incredibly moving." It was," he said.
