- Austin Butler will soon play Elvis Presley in a biopic
- Priscilla Presley has thought about the choice of actor
- The movie Elvis comes out in June 2022
After Elton John and Freddie Mercury, Elvis Presley is the next music legend to get a biopic. Austin Butler, 30, who was recently seen in the film Once Upon a Time In... Hollywood, takes on the role of the King of Rock.
Austin Butler as the "King of Rock"
The new Austin Butler film, Elvis, is about the story of the singer and his manager Colonel Tom Parker, who is played by superstar actor Tom Hanks, 65.
Austin Butler, who made his debut with girlfriend Kaia Gerber, 20, at the 2022 Met Gala, knew he would be filling big shoes in the role. In 2022, in an interview with Vogue, he admitted that he would do anything to portray the singer in the best way possible.
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That's why the Austin Butler took singing lessons, as he explained in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. He added that, in the role, he felt a "responsibility" to Elvis, his ex-wife Priscilla, and daughter Lisa Marie. So what does Priscilla Presley, 76, think about Butler in the role of the famous icon?
Austin Butler as Elvis: What ex-wife Priscilla Presley thinks
Priscilla Presley has a clear opinion about Austin Butler, as she announced on Facebook at the end of April. There she wrote that she and Jerry Schilling, 80, were invited to a private screening hosted by the film's writer-director Baz Luhrmann, 59.
She said of Butler's acting: "Austin Butler, who played Elvis, is outstanding. Halfway through the film Jerry and I looked at each other and said WOW!!! [...] He knew he had big shoes to fill."
"He was extremely nervous playing this part. I can only imagine," added Elvis Presley's ex-wife. Priscilla Presley also had only kind words for Butler's co-star Tom Hanks: "What a character he was. There was two sides to Colonel, Jerry and I witnessed both."
For Priscilla Presley, who found out about her ex's death through his manager, the biopic is very valuable. Everyone knows the story doesn't have a happy ending, but as Priscilla concluded: "You will understand a little bit more of Elvis' journey, penned by a director who put his heart and soul and many hours into this film."
That's high praise from the woman who knew Elvis best. The biopic Elvis starring Austin Butler and Tom Hanks is scheduled to hit theatres on June 24, 2022.
