Movies To History.com

“Long Live The King” – CBS Sunday Morning…

It had been almost a decade since Baz Luhrmann announced in April 2014, that he would be making a film on the life and career of Elvis Aaron Presley when the film, ELVIS, was finally released in June 2022. Part of the long-awaited film process was deciding who would take on the role of the musical icon. Even to this day, Elvis Presley remains one of the most popular musicians in music history, with a fanbase that still rivals that of The Kardashian Family. Luhrmann knew that whomever he chose to play Presley would have to be able to withstand the scrutiny of Elvis’ history and icon status. He looked at many actors in the process that included Harry Styles, and Miles Teller. But it was the audition tape of a little-known Nickelodeon and Disney Channel actor from Anaheim, CA along with a recommendation from Denzel Washington that would ultimately land the role of a lifetime playing the “King of Rock and Roll” for Austin Butler.

THE WEIGHTED ROYAL PRESSURE…

In this interview with CBS Sunday Morning from May 29, 2022, Austin Butler and Baz Luhrmann sit down with Luke Burbank to discuss Luhrmann’s film, ELVIS, and how Austin Butler became “The King“, Elvis Presley. The interview starts with Butler, who went through the process of becoming and portraying Elvis Presley in the film for about three years. The process included vocal and movement training while watching and listening to hours of Presley performances and music. Austin first discusses the role he was taking on as this huge iconic figure in history. That it would have been impossible to be able to pull it off if he only looked at it from that perspective. Butler would have failed at being Elvis before he ever filmed a scene. Austin instead chose to look at the humanity of the man known worldwide. That if he could find a similarity in the way Elvis had lived with that of how Butler was living, he could deal with the reality of the man, and not the icon known as Elvis Presley.

AUSTIN BUTLER UNCHAINED HIS GRIEF TO FIND ELVIS…

That similarity was that both Presley and Butler had lost their mothers at the age of 23. And it would be Butler’s grief over that loss that he would focus on in his audition tape for Luhrmann. Austin Butler submitted an audition tape of himself singing, “Unchained Melody” in his bathrobe, and the tape blew Luhrmann away. Any intention he had of hiring someone else to play Elvis, was blown away by the feeling that came over Luhrmann while watching the audition. At that moment he realized he had his Elvis, and he would be able to play Elvis as a sex symbol in the 1950s, as well as degenerated Elvis in the 1970s right up until his death in 1977. That very song would be sung at one of his last concerts, and Butler would recreate it for the film. You can’t look at Butler now without thinking, he was born to play Elvis Presley. As Priscilla Presley said after a screening of the film, Austin Butler is the reincarnation of Elvis Presley.

THE MAN, NOT THE MYTH…

Butler discusses what it was like to take on the role with so much pressure before he made the film, while also discussing the fragility of the man we forget about when giving an artist like Elvis Presley Superhuman status. Fans forget about the person who just like everyone else had feelings and fears that were cast aside in the name of his popularity. Presley’s own feelings about the Civil Rights Movement being silenced due to his fame and status, are even taken on as part of the drama in the film. Luhrmann discusses those racial issues that are a part of Elvis’ music history, as well as why he made the film now and what he wants film viewers to think about after watching the film.

You can watch the complete interview with CBS Sunday Morning here: