March 2021, shortly after the end of the filming ofElvisAustin Butler is not feeling very well: “The day after the shooting, I woke up at four in the morning with excruciating pain and was rushed to the hospital. My body started to shut down”he explains in the pages of QG American in May 2022. Diagnosis: he is suffering from a strange virus simulating appendicitis. In question, too much involvement in his desire to embody Elvis Presley. Austin had just spent months in an apartment covered in“pictures of Elvis everywhere” and “of all ages”. He had read and watched everything about the King, followed the instructions of a coach to mimic his gestures, learned contemporary dance, tap dancing and ballet! A frenzied ordeal that ended up putting him down. One moment of the filming was particularly intense: the scene in which Butler plays the Elvis of 1968, when the King, all dressed in leather, made his big comeback on US television: “This day of filming was completely exhilarating. Hearing the screams and applause at the end, the same kind that Elvis was getting, I closed my eyes and then gave myself permission to think that this instant, Elvis’ life and mine converged”.
“My body started to shut down”
Words in mytho mode for the purposes of the promo? Not sure, as the actor has the reputation of being a perfectionist capable of going very far in his concern for incarnation. And then there is this disturbing detail: Austin Butler lost his mother at the age of 23, like Elvis Presley… Another event will mark his life. Austin is 12 years old. He accompanies his brother to the local fair in Orange County (California). The brother sports a somewhat special haircut: a perm. The cup will prove to be decisive for the fate of Austin. A talent scout has spotted this kid with his funny mop of hair from afar and immediately offers him an audition. The whole family decided to accompany him. Austin is also there, and also takes the opportunity to do some testing. It’s a revelation. The extremely shy teenager discovers a passion for the theater. He multiplies the castings. “At school or elsewhere, I had always felt different, out of placehe says, It’s like I’ve finally found my clan”says the actor in Shein May 2022.
“Elvis’ life and mine converged”
His beautician mother, Lori Anne, will support and accompany her son in the accomplishment of his project, to become an actor. Time passes. We are in 2014, Austin, in front of the screen of his smartphone, will have to write the most painful tweet of his life: “Lori Butler, my mom, my hero and my best friend, passed away this morning. Let’s pay tribute to her. I love you and I will miss you every day, mom.” The blow is harsh. As his career began to take off, his mother, his greatest admirer and strongest support, is no more. On the professional side, after having started in series for children or teenagers and a few minor feature films in the cinema, Austin managed to grow with his roles.
As early as 2013, fans of Sex and the City noticed the hunk in The Carrie Diaries, the prequel to the series, where he has no difficulty seducing Anna Sophia Robb, the main actress who plays a young adult Carrie Bradshaw. Despite a growing presence on the small screen, Austin is best known for his girlfriends. The press is more interested in his love affairs with Vanessa Hudgens or with Lily-Rose Depp, and invariably presents him as the good pal friend lover who more or less makes it possible to forget Zac Efron for the first or Timothée Chalamet for the second. Austin? The right guy you need to start a transition and ease the pain of a breakup. As if the actor was destined to play supporting roles in his private life as on the screens. And that begins to exasperate this ambitious artist…
Butler decides to drop the series to participate in more prestigious projects: from the theater to Broadway, where he gives the answer to Denzel Washington, a film with Jim Jarmusch, The Dead Don’t Die in 2019, and Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood by Quentin Tarantino the same year, fall just right. In addition, these two feature films are screened at Cannes. How can you benefit from a mondovision exhibition? Not really: There will be no festival in 2019 for Butler because the actor is already busy on a big file. Baz Luhrmann, director of Red Mill ! and of Gatsby the magnificent, saw Austin at the theater in New York and chose him to try out for his Elvis Presley biopic. While he does not physically resemble the King, the young actor convinced the filmmaker, styling on the post other applicants like Harry Styles, to name only him. May 2022, Cannes: the flashes crackle in front of the glamorous couple formed by Austin Butler and Kaia Gerber in fashion Love me tender on the red carpet. Elvis is screened at the festival and creates the event. The echoes are good. The professionals dub this handsome kid, who should soon embody Feyd-Rautha in Dune: Part Two, opposite Timothée Chalamet. At 30, after a winding journey, Austin Butler is finally admitted to the big leagues. A new King, in Hollywood.
A performance validated by Priscilla Presley
“Austin is extraordinary”, immediately announced Priscilla Presley before the official screening of the Cannes Film Festival. What credibility once again the young Austin. Which has also accompanied the widow of the King to the very chic Met Gala with the entire film crew.
Named Most Stylish Guy
In early June, the magazine GQ US consecrated Austin by electing him the most stylish guy of the moment, comparing him to James Dean, Marlon Brando and Leonardo DiCaprio… Just that! It is true that since 2005 when he was a blond teenager, the actor has changed a lot. So here he is in an elegant thirtysomething with raven black hair for Elvis.
Love me tender
Austin first met Vanessa Hudgens in 2005. At the time, she was dating Zac Efron, so they became just friends… This relationship turned into a romance during 2011, when Vanessa suddenly found herself single. Their story will last eight years and will end due to filming and schedules that are not very adaptable to life together. In August 2021, Austin would have had a love affair with Lily-Rose Depp – who had just separated from Timothée Chalamet –, the daughter of Vanessa and Johnny originally being an old friend known on the set of Yoga Hoses. It is also thanks to a yoga class, in December 2021, that Austin will then appear with Kaia Gerber, the daughter of Cindy Crawford. And to see their beautiful complicity during the last Cannes Film Festival, it seems that this love story is off to a good start!
A key mentor: Denzel Washington
“I have never seen such professional ethics”said Denzel Washington of Austin Butler, who was his partner in Eugene O’Neill’s play, The Iceman Cometh, in Broadway. Also, when the star learns that Baz Luhrmann is preparing a biopic on Elvis Presley, Denzel immediately telephones the director of Red Mill ! to literally sell him his young protege. A perfect alignment of the planets will take place…
His career
2005-2007: NED OR HOW TO SURVIVE STUDIES (series)
First real role in this teen series produced by the Nickelodeon channel. He played there for two seasons and found a talent agent.
2006-2007: HANNAH MONTANA (series)
Disney spots Austin and hires him to play Derek Hanson in this cult sitcom worn by Miley Cyrus.
2010-2011: LIFE UNEXPECTED (series)
He achieved notoriety with this successful family series. It is also found in CSI: Miami or Manhattan, Jonas LA
2013-2014: THE CARRIE DIARIES (series)
He gets the role of Sebastian Kydd in this prequel to the cult series Sex and the City. A beautiful exhibition that will last two seasons.
2016-2017: THE CHRONICLES OF SHANNARA (series)
Adapted from the work of Terry Brooks, this heroic fantasy series is eyeing the side of Tolkien or the Hunger Games. Austin plays the leading male role in it.
2016: YOGA HOSERS
A remarkable first feature film with Lily-Rose Depp, Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis. A trashy comedy by Kevin Smith that did not meet with the expected success.
2019: THE DEAD DON’T DIE
A zombie movie by Jim Jarmusch, starring Adam Driver and Bill Murray. Despite the aura of the director and the quality of the casting, the reviews are deplorable.
2019: ONCE UPON A TIME… IN HOLLYWOOD
In the latest Tarantino, he plays Tex, a disturbing nutcase, disciple of Charles Manson. The opportunity to give the answer to Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio…
2022: ELVIS
In front of Baz Luhrmann’s camera, he plays the King opposite Tom Hanks, who plays Colonel Parker, in this flamboyant biopic. The role of his life, a priori…
See also: Video: 10 stars who slept with a fan!
Sylvain Monier