Austin Butler opens up about the challenges of stepping out of Elvis Presley’s shadow

Austin Butler was forced to hire a dialect coach to shed off the signature drawl of Elvis Presley from his voice after playing him in the 2022 biopic. During a recent appearance on The Late Show, the 32-year-old actor opened up about the persevering influence of the late singer on him, which followed him well into his personal and professional life.

He explained that it took a lot from him to “not sound like Elvis” in his upcoming project, the World War II miniseries Masters of the Air.
“It was a lot,” Butler said. “I was just trying to remember who I was, I was trying to remember what I liked to do.”

“All I thought about was Elvis for three years.” He continued, “I had a dialect coach just to help me not sound like Elvis in that film.” The Bikeriders actor won a Golden Globes award and earned an Oscar nomination for flawlessly embodying the King of Rock in the critically acclaimed film.

However, it came at the expense of online trolling for not being able to sound like himself anymore. His Golden Globes speech last year is often used a reference to point out the Southern accent of the late singer dripping from his voice.

Speaking to Elle Australia in June, Butler explained: “I didn’t do anything else for two years [apart from working on Elvis], that’s such a large chunk of life. I’m not surprised that it clicks in.” “You spend so much time obsessing about one thing, and it really is like muscular habits, your mouth can change,” the actor added.