By now, it's no secret that Austin Butler has been the talk of the town due to his portrayal of the King of Rock and Roll. Cast as Elvis, beating Harry Styles, Miles Teller, Ansel Elgort and Timothee Chalamet, the actor has pretty much won the hearts of everyone for his amazing performance. But, believe it or not, Butler went through quite a lot to portray Elvis himself in Baz Luhrmann's biopic.
During his appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show, Butler spoke with The Voice coach about the audition process, revealing that it took five months before he officially secured the role. According to the actor, the audition began with several meetings with Luhrmann, consisting of several performances of Presley's songs, as well as scene readings.
"I sent Baz a tape of me singing 'Unchained Melody' and playing the piano, and he responded to it, and I flew to New York. We met and we just talked for three hours," the 30-year-old stated. "Then he said, 'You want to come in tomorrow and read a couple of scenes from the script?' So I came in and read a couple of scenes. And then he said, 'You wanna come in and sing a couple songs ... and you wanna sing 'Suspicious Minds?' So I went home that night, practiced, and came back. We ended up doing that for five months, so it was unlike any audition."
Apparently, despite things being up and down, the screen test didn't come until later. Butler stated the director changed everything for him the day he was meant to read for the whole studio. "I was supposed to do a couple of scenes, and he changed all the words in the scenes. I was supposed to sing three songs ... and he's saying, 'You're gonna sing these three songs,' and they weren't the songs I prepared."
"He put me through the wringer, and I realize now he likes to have a very spontaneous onset. He wanted to see if I would lose my mind, so I didn't think I got it," he continued "A week later I woke up to Baz calling me ... he sounded kinda downcast and said, 'I wanted to be the first one to call you and say, 'Are you ready to fly, Mr. Presley?' It was the greatest phone call ever."
