Austin Butler Didn't See Family for 3 Years While Preparing for 'Elvis' : 'Wouldn't Talk to Anybody'

Mar. 15, 2025

Austin Butler.Photo: Emma McIntyre/WireImageAustin Butlertook his years-long preparation to playElvis PresleyinBaz Luhrmann’sElvisveryseriously.During 31-year-old Butler’sVarietyActors on Actors conversation withGlass Onion: A Knives Out MysterystarJanelle Monáepublished Sunday, the actor told Monae that he did not see his family for “about three years” while he got into character as the King of Rock ‘n Roll.“I went, I was off, we were prepping with Baz, and then I went to Australia,” Butlertold Monae during the conversation. “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,” Butler explained, referencing histendency to slip back into speaking like Elvislong after he wrapped filming on the project. “So then I’d talk to my sister, and she’s gotta listen to that.““You had to say, ‘This is who I am. This is what it takes,’ " Monae said, applauding the lengths Butler went to to get into the role.Butler has previously nodded toward going to extreme lengths forElviswhen hetold BritishGQin May that he washospitalized and bedridden for a week after completing filmingand that he “went home in tears” after director Luhrmann, 59, told people to “heckle” Butler while he was recording music for the film.Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures"When I was on my first day in the recording studio, Baz wanted me to get as close to performing as possible,” Butler said in a recent coverinterview withVMAN. “He had all the executives and everybody from RCA, who were back in the offices, he brought them into the recording studio and he goes, ‘I want you all to sit facing Austin’ … and he told them to heckle me.“Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.At the 2022 Gotham Awards in New York City in November, Luhrmann toldIndieWirethathe will eventually put together a “concert cut” of the biopicthat willrun four hours in total.“It’s a directors’ assembly. It’s not a cut,” Luhrmann, 60, told the outlet. “There’s a whole lot of material that adds up to four hours, but I have gone on record now to say not today, not tomorrow, but at some point I would do [it].“Luhrmann clarified during the interview that Butler “did his concerts full out” during production onElvis, which runs for two hours and 39 minutes in its theatrical release format.“He did all the numbers. Austin just did it and it was an out of body experience to watch him do those full concerts, so one day I will cut those full concerts together,” the director said.

Austin Butler.Photo: Emma McIntyre/WireImage

Austin Butlertook his years-long preparation to playElvis PresleyinBaz Luhrmann’sElvisveryseriously.During 31-year-old Butler’sVarietyActors on Actors conversation withGlass Onion: A Knives Out MysterystarJanelle Monáepublished Sunday, the actor told Monae that he did not see his family for “about three years” while he got into character as the King of Rock ‘n Roll.“I went, I was off, we were prepping with Baz, and then I went to Australia,” Butlertold Monae during the conversation. “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,” Butler explained, referencing histendency to slip back into speaking like Elvislong after he wrapped filming on the project. “So then I’d talk to my sister, and she’s gotta listen to that.““You had to say, ‘This is who I am. This is what it takes,’ " Monae said, applauding the lengths Butler went to to get into the role.Butler has previously nodded toward going to extreme lengths forElviswhen hetold BritishGQin May that he washospitalized and bedridden for a week after completing filmingand that he “went home in tears” after director Luhrmann, 59, told people to “heckle” Butler while he was recording music for the film.Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures"When I was on my first day in the recording studio, Baz wanted me to get as close to performing as possible,” Butler said in a recent coverinterview withVMAN. “He had all the executives and everybody from RCA, who were back in the offices, he brought them into the recording studio and he goes, ‘I want you all to sit facing Austin’ … and he told them to heckle me.“Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.At the 2022 Gotham Awards in New York City in November, Luhrmann toldIndieWirethathe will eventually put together a “concert cut” of the biopicthat willrun four hours in total.“It’s a directors’ assembly. It’s not a cut,” Luhrmann, 60, told the outlet. “There’s a whole lot of material that adds up to four hours, but I have gone on record now to say not today, not tomorrow, but at some point I would do [it].“Luhrmann clarified during the interview that Butler “did his concerts full out” during production onElvis, which runs for two hours and 39 minutes in its theatrical release format.“He did all the numbers. Austin just did it and it was an out of body experience to watch him do those full concerts, so one day I will cut those full concerts together,” the director said.

Austin Butlertook his years-long preparation to playElvis PresleyinBaz Luhrmann’sElvisveryseriously.

During 31-year-old Butler’sVarietyActors on Actors conversation withGlass Onion: A Knives Out MysterystarJanelle Monáepublished Sunday, the actor told Monae that he did not see his family for “about three years” while he got into character as the King of Rock ‘n Roll.

“I went, I was off, we were prepping with Baz, and then I went to Australia,” Butlertold Monae during the conversation. “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,” Butler explained, referencing histendency to slip back into speaking like Elvislong after he wrapped filming on the project. “So then I’d talk to my sister, and she’s gotta listen to that.”

“You had to say, ‘This is who I am. This is what it takes,’ " Monae said, applauding the lengths Butler went to to get into the role.

Butler has previously nodded toward going to extreme lengths forElviswhen hetold BritishGQin May that he washospitalized and bedridden for a week after completing filmingand that he “went home in tears” after director Luhrmann, 59, told people to “heckle” Butler while he was recording music for the film.

Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

“When I was on my first day in the recording studio, Baz wanted me to get as close to performing as possible,” Butler said in a recent coverinterview withVMAN. “He had all the executives and everybody from RCA, who were back in the offices, he brought them into the recording studio and he goes, ‘I want you all to sit facing Austin’ … and he told them to heckle me.”

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

At the 2022 Gotham Awards in New York City in November, Luhrmann toldIndieWirethathe will eventually put together a “concert cut” of the biopicthat willrun four hours in total.

“It’s a directors’ assembly. It’s not a cut,” Luhrmann, 60, told the outlet. “There’s a whole lot of material that adds up to four hours, but I have gone on record now to say not today, not tomorrow, but at some point I would do [it].”

Luhrmann clarified during the interview that Butler “did his concerts full out” during production onElvis, which runs for two hours and 39 minutes in its theatrical release format.

“He did all the numbers. Austin just did it and it was an out of body experience to watch him do those full concerts, so one day I will cut those full concerts together,” the director said.

source: people.com