Austin Butler faces fear after ‘Elvis’

Austin Butler, you may have heard, got a little bashed for looking too much like Elvis now that he’s not Elvis anymore. The 31-year-old actor from Baz Luhrmann’s extravagant biopic even had to be defended by fellow Oscar nominee Angela Bassett, who explained that she, too, struggled to shake off the Tina Turner vibe after the having performed in 1993. In this case, Butler says there’s something far more important that has stuck with him since he made “Elvis”: a new relationship with fear. The challenge of playing an icon who was imitated as often as Presley was so great, he says, that he suffered from “impostor syndrome” and could have been overcome with fear, fear that prevented him from sleep well for two years, he adds. , if he had not learned to use it as a “compass”, in his own words. Now he says he wonders, “What am I terrified of today?” And then try to face it, instead of walking away. Butler, a Golden Globe and BAFTA winner, remains a favorite to add an Oscar to his shelf. The actor spoke to The Associated Press after his Oscar nomination, reflecting on how he tried to approach the role to make it human and not like “going to a wax museum,” which he said. learned personally from the process, and also how the shocking death of Lisa Marie Presley. The interview has been edited for clarity. ___ AP: It was an emotional moment for you: winning a Golden Globe, then the tragic death of Lisa Marie Presley, then the Oscar nomination, all in a matter of days. Can you describe this trip? BUTLER: The peaks are so high and the valleys so low. For each of these moments, I just try to be as present as possible…I just wish Lisa Marie was there with us to celebrate. Sometimes in the midst of intense grief and devastating loss, it’s a little strange to celebrate. But I also know how much that movie meant to Lisa Marie, how much her father’s legacy meant to her. I am therefore very proud and honored to be part of this story. But it definitely puts things into perspective, when you’re going through a loss as intense as that. AP: Let’s talk about the challenges of the role itself. A way had to be found to avoid imitating an icon that was too equalized and to give it humanity and authenticity. Can you tell us how you got there? BUTLER: It’s so hard to quantify, and it’s so hard to talk about it without sounding incredibly pretentious and smug. There are some aspects that even I don’t fully understand. Fortunately, I had plenty of time. I had a year and a half before I started filming, and a lot of that time was spent alone in my apartment in Australia during the six months the film was shut down during the pandemic. So it was a lot to focus on that every day and try to get into that man’s life, instead of all the outside things. Even the way she moved, it all had to come from her mind, instead of feeling like choreography. Because there are times when you want to be meticulous, you know, very specific about how he moved a certain way or how he spoke or whatever, but that can’t seem like a recreation; otherwise it just feels like going to a wax museum or something! So I was very lucky to be surrounded by amazing people, my amazing movement coach Polly Bennett and dialect coaches, singing coaches and karate instructors. I had so many people around me that helped me in this process. But it was a long process of trying to figure it out every day, feeling like a detective. AP: After all that, would you say that the character has definitely changed you? BUTLER: Yes, and probably in more ways than I can describe or understand on my own. But one of the main things is that it changed my relationship with fear, because it was such an overwhelming challenge. And there were a lot of times where I felt, you know, maybe I didn’t believe in myself, I felt impostor syndrome, just a terror that kept me awake for two years. And now, my experience is that when I feel a fear like that, I know that’s not what has to stop you. That you keep doing the work and use fear almost like a compass, to say, “What am I terrified of today? – and enter it instead of running away. I think that’s probably the most important thing that really stood out to me.