What Austin Butler’s Voice Sounded Like Earlier than & After ‘Elvis’—His Coach Thinks His Accent Could Final ‘Endlessly’

He grew up in Anaheim, California near Disneyland however since successful the position of Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis biopic on the King of Rock ‘n Roll, followers have been baffled that Austin Butler’s voice had seemingly modified to imitate that of the music icon he embodied on-screen.

In 2023, whereas accepting his first Golden Globe for his portrayal of Elvis Presley, Butler was jokingly accused of getting an “identification disaster” per Teen Vogue, who famous that his dialect had shifted from a better pitch to the smoother Southern drawl so synonymous with Presley, who was born and raised in Tennessee. “The month earlier than I heard that Baz was making the film, I used to be going to have a look at Christmas lights with a pal,” Butler not too long ago mentioned throughout The Hollywood Reporter‘s Actors Roundtable. “There was an Elvis Christmas tune on the radio and I used to be singing alongside, and my pal seemed over at me and goes, ‘You’ve received to play Elvis.’ I mentioned, ‘Oh, that’s such a protracted shot.’”

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After his Golden Globe win for Best Actor, the Carrie Diaries star was requested about his accent. “I don’t suppose I sound like [Presley] nonetheless, however I assume I need to as a result of I hear it so much,” Butler informed reporters. “I had three years the place that was my solely focus. So, I’m positive there’s items of him in my DNA and I’ll all the time be linked.”

What was Austin Butler’s voice like earlier than Elvis?

What was Austin Butler’s voice like before Elvis? In interviews recorded previous to Elvis, like this ET one from 2015 during which he gushed about then-girlfriend Vanessa Hudgens, the actor’s voice was a better pitch, although there are components to the way in which he speaks which are on the way in which to sounding like Elvis.

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Getty Pictures

Butler has been appearing since he was a young person, starring in varied Disney Channel and Nickelodeon TV collection comparable to Hannah Montana, iCarly, and Zoey 101. Quentin Tarantino‘s As soon as Upon a Time in Hollywood because the infamous Tex Watson—who’s from Dallas, Texas—from the Manson Household cult was his final position earlier than taking up Elvis. Whereas Dallas and Memphis accents are completely different, you possibly can hear Butler’s voice rising deeper.

Today Butler’s voice is noticeably decrease in pitch and a few vowels are extra drawn-out, akin to the way in which Presley spoke. That is what’s often called a “position spill”, in keeping with Luzita Fereday, a lecturer in Voice on the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts. In an article for The Conversation, she described what number of actors fuse their “private identification with characters” in an idea often called “boundary blurring” within the appearing group.

“Your voice is a direct expression of who you might be and your experiences. The fusing of non-public identification with characters is essential to the craft of an actor. Nevertheless, some actors can lose their ‘idiolect’ (their particular person approach of talking) and may retain options of accents they could have used for his or her character,” she noticed.

Butler studied Presley for greater than two years, remoted from his household to organize for the position. “What an amazing man to get to hang around with daily and be taught all the pieces about. I learn each guide on his life. I watched each body of footage, each interview he ever gave,” he informed LA native information station KTLA5.

He expanded on this level throughout and Actors on Actors interview for Selection with Glass Onion: A Knives Out Thriller actress Janelle Monáe, Butler shared how he reworked into the position of this legendary music icon. “Throughout Elvis, I didn’t see my household for about three years. I used to be prepping with Baz, after which I went to Australia. I had months the place I wouldn’t speak to anyone,” Butler mentioned. “And after I did, the one factor I used to be ever interested by was Elvis. I used to be talking in his voice the entire time…That is what it takes.”

He continued: “It was so nerve-racking as a result of I had a 12 months and a half earlier than that time to organize. And all of the preparation is for nothing if you happen to don’t get it. Earlier than strolling out onstage, I actually had the fear: ‘My profession feels prefer it’s on the road on this second’.” So consumed by the movie was Butler that the day after filming wrapped, he woke “up at 4 within the morning with excruciating ache, and I used to be rushed to hospital,” Butler informed GQ. “My physique simply began shutting down the day after I completed Elvis.”

Warner Bros. Courtesy Everett Collection

Warner Bros. Courtesy Everett Assortment

The time period “de-roling”, as Fereday famous, is the strategy by which an actor lets go of sure bodily character traits that aren’t their very own as soon as they end performing. Fereday speculated that this may increasingly have been difficult in Butler’s case. “It may be troublesome to de-role for an actor who has invested important dedication to a profitable transformation of accent, physique and character,” she wrote. “It might take months for an actor to really feel they’ve let the character go, particularly in the event that they felt a powerful synergy and reference to the character.”

Certainly, in talking with Australia’s ABC Gold Coast, Butler’s vocal coach Irene Bartlett talked about her tackle how he’s maintained his Southern drawl. “What you noticed in that Golden Globes speech, that’s him. It’s real, it’s not placed on,” she mentioned. “I really feel sorry individuals are saying that it’s nonetheless appearing [but] he’s really taken [the voice of Presley] on board.” She added that his accent is likely to be there “perpetually.” She added: “Due to COVID shutdowns, he was engaged on it on a regular basis and it’s troublesome to modify off one thing you’ve spent a lot focus [and] time on.”

In a 2022 interview with ELLE Australia, Butler mirrored on the modifications to his talking voice since filming Elvis, evaluating it to a stage persona and speculated that the identical would possibly occur for future roles due to his persona. “As a result of I’m a shy individual, and after I know that there’s bits of Elvis that I’d should click on into to be able to exit on stage and be in entrance of a ton of individuals, being surrounded by his identify all over the place, there’s triggers,” he mentioned. “You spend a lot time obsessing about one factor, and it truly is like muscular habits, your mouth can change. It’s fairly wonderful. I do know that I’m continuously altering. Examine in with me in 20 years after I’ve performed plenty of roles, who is aware of what I’ll sound like!”

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