Austin Butler wowed movie lovers with his brilliant performance as Elvis Presley in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis biopic. However, it seems the actor may have brought the role into his real life as some fans keep wondering why his natural speaking voice still sounds like that of the King of Rock n Roll.
Recently, while hosting an episode of Saturday Night Live, the 31-year-old shed light on the concerns of his fans and viewers who believed he was so immersed in the character that he is struggling to get back to his true self.
Austin Butler clears the rumors about his voice
During his opening monologue on the show, Butler explained that there has been no alteration in his voice and it sounds just like it has always been. “I do want to address something,” he said. “There’s people out there who say that ever since I’ve played Elvis my voice has changed — that it got deeper, more Elvis-y. But that’s not true, I’ve always sounded like this, and I can prove it. Here’s a clip from an interview I did 10 years ago.”
RELATED: Austin Butler Prepared For Three Years To Play Elvis In New Biopic
Butler then proceeded to show the audience footage of his 2012 interview with AfterBuzz TV while promoting his role as Sebastian Kydd on The Carrie Diaries. However, in the video, his voice was modified to sound extremely high-pitched.
The actor talks about how he prepared for his character in ‘Elvis’
However, in an interview with Variety, Butler disclosed some of the lifestyle changes he made to deliver on his character in the movie. “During Elvis, I didn’t see my family for about three years,” Butler revealed. “I was prepping with Baz, and then I went to Australia. I had months where I wouldn’t talk to anybody. And when I did, the only thing I was ever thinking about was Elvis. I was speaking in his voice the whole time.”
For Butler, he was just doing his best to stay focused on the role to achieve great success in the movie. However, some of his fans disagree with the approach as they tag it “extreme.”
Austin Butler might get an Oscar nomination for his role in ‘Elvis’
Butler’s all-encompassing Elvis portrayal has already been noted by critics and he is been tipped as one of the major contenders for the 2023 Oscar Best Actor category.
Despite offering up a great performance, it is still a question of whether or not Elvis Presley will be the role that launches Austin Butler into superstardom and gets him his first Oscar.