Exclusive: Austin Butler on the challenges of playing Elvis and talking with Priscilla Presley
Coming to theaters on June 24 is the highly anticipated, epic, big-screen spectacle Elvis from Warner Bros. Pictures and visionary, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Baz Luhrmann that explores the life and music of Elvis Presley, starring Austin Butler and Oscar winner Tom Hanks.
Starring alongside Butler and Hanks, award-winning theatre actress Helen Thomson plays Elvis’s mother, Gladys, Richard Roxburgh portrays Elvis’s father, Vernon, and Olivia DeJonge plays Priscilla. Luke Bracey plays Jerry Schilling, Natasha Bassett plays Dixie Locke, David Wenham plays Hank Snow, Kelvin Harrison Jr. plays B.B. King, Xavier Samuel plays Scotty Moore, and Kodi Smit-McPhee plays Jimmie Rodgers Snow.
To play additional iconic musical artists in the film, Luhrmann cast singer/songwriter Yola as Sister Rosetta Tharpe, model Alton Mason as Little Richard, Austin, Texas native Gary Clark Jr. as Arthur Crudup, and artist Shonka Dukureh as Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton.
A thoroughly cinematic drama, Elvis’s (Butler) story is seen through the prism of his complicated relationship with his enigmatic manager, Colonel Tom Parker (Hanks). As told by Parker, the film delves into the complex dynamic between the two spanning over 20 years, from Presley’s rise to fame to his unprecedented stardom, against the backdrop of the evolving cultural landscape and loss of innocence in America. Central to that journey is one of the significant and influential people in Elvis’s life, Priscilla Presley (Olivia DeJonge).
The screenplay is written by Sam Bromell, Baz Luhrmann, and Craig Pearce. Produced by Gail Berman, Catherine Martin, Patrick McCormick, Andrew Mittman, Schuyler Weiss, and Baz Luhrmann. This is premiering at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.
Prior to being cast in his biggest role to date, Butler’s recent credits included Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” and Jim Jarmusch’s zombie comedy “The Dead Don’t Die.” On the small screen, he has starred on the CW’s “The Carrie Diaries,” “Switched at Birth” and “Zoey 101.”
Blackfilmandtv.com’s Wilson Morales spoke with Butler on the challenges of playing and singing like Elvis.
