Later this month, Baz Luhrmann’s ‘Elvis‘ biopic will hit theaters. The movie has received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics. It also received a 10-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival… if that means anything to you.
Anyway, Austin Butler stars in the movie as Elvis Presley, and most critics are praising his performance. Even the critics who didn’t particularly care for the story, agree that Butler killed it as Elvis.
And that has to make director Luhrmann feel real good after he passed on Harry Styles for Butler. During a recent interview on an Australian podcast, the director talked about how he was in serious talks with Styles, but ultimately decided to pass on the pop star.
Harry is a really talented actor. I would work on something with him [but] the real issue with Harry is, he’s Harry Styles. He’s already an icon. Harry and I came to a place, genuinely I mean, he was just desperate to put the suit on and explore. He’s such a great spirit and I have nothing but great things to say about Harry Styles.
According to Luhrmann, the difference between Styles and Butler is that Styles WANTED to play Elvis…. Butler was DESTINED to play Elvis.
The thing about Austin was that he will tell you himself, I didn’t pick him: It’s as if he was drawn, like the role drew them in, because he was almost born to play it. You know, we can talk about it now, he like loses his mom at the same age that Elvis did. He sends a video to me with this thing and… He just happened like two years non-stop living and breathing as Elvis.
‘Elvis’ will hit a theater near you on June 24, 2022.
