Like a phoenix from the ashes, Austin Butler has risen out of minor pop teen heartthrob-dom to reap prestigious acclaim. The Disney Channel and Nickelodeon alum is cinema’s boy du jour thanks to Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis – a garish, maximalist encapsulation of the life, death, and wiggle of Elvis Presley – and his unforgettable embodiment of the king. Elvis’s superstar swagger, simmering sex appeal and baritone country drawl have seemingly manifested in the star power of a bonafide performer that nobody really saw coming (unless, of course, you’re Denzel Washington).
There’s just one strange hitch. Butler’s vocal chords have seemingly been frozen in Southern-tinged Elvis-twang since before Elvis even hit theatres back in June 2022. During a conversation with Janelle Monae in December last year, Butler revealed that, while filming Elvis and sequestered in Luhrmann’s native Australia during the pandemic, he didn’t see his family for three years, even going long stretches without speaking to them. In Butler’s own words: “I had months where I wouldn’t talk to anybody. And when I did, the only thing I was ever thinking about was Elvis.”
When Butler did speak, he was only speaking in the Elvis voice. And though he admitted in an interview with Entertainment Tonight that he does still slip into “the voice,” he told reporters backstage at the Golden Globes that he doesn’t hear it anymore. (For reference, Butler is from Anaheim and naturally has a higher-pitched, California guy voice.) “At this point, I keep asking people, ‘Is this my voice?'” Butler told Entertainment Tonight. “It’s one of those things where certain things trigger it. When you live with something for two years, and you do nothing else, I think that you can’t help it. It becomes a fiber of your being.”
This statement brings us to the crux of my argument: Let’s just let Austin Butler become Elvis. We don’t have an Elvis anymore, and we haven’t had one for quite some time. We didn’t necessarily need another Elvis – some might say we’ve been doing fine for quite some time without him. But the overwhelmingly positive approval Butler has received for his performance (from Presley’s own family, no less) together with his dreamy face and inability to free himself from “the voice” are all compelling qualities for a new king of rock ‘n’ roll. Sure, maybe he’s lying, but also, who cares? It’s all part of his charm, a hunky obliviousness that makes him a true movie star in an era where such a thing hardly exists anymore.
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Butler’s own body seemed to rebel against him when Elvis completed filming, and he ended up in the hospital due to a virus with symptoms that mirror appendicitis. He claimed that his body had just started “shutting down” once production had wrapped, and that he had even lost touch with his own identity, despite his Elvis co-star Tom Hanks advising him to not get too lost in the role. But with his own vocal coach asserting that the voice is “genuine” and that he may be stuck talking like Elvis “forever”, it seems that Butler’s physiology has made its final decision. To this I say, just give in. Just become Elvis, Austin – do not resist the Cronenbergian transformation that your body clearly wants you to go through. It will be for the net-benefit of culture.
The fact of the matter is that America has been largely robbed of stars, an oft-documented phenomenon caused by several contemporary factors: The death of the mid-budget movie, the boom of streaming, the inherently ephemeral nature of social media – which now plays an inextricable role in the half-life of entertainment.
When it comes to Austin Butler, it’s more than awards and box office numbers that qualify him for stardom. It’s his singular talent, himbo-foward disposition, confoundingly good looks, and endearing air of innocence regarding his persisting Elvis mannerisms (not to mention anyone who has dated Vanessa Hudgens for an extended period has to be at least a little goofy). Simply put, the boy’s got the juice.
The best thing about the biggest movie stars of yesteryear is that they’re beautiful, unknowable and a little insane. At this point, why not let Austin Butler go the extra half mile? When your more studious qualities as an actor seem to have precipitated your own ego death, it’s the very least you deserve.