Lisa Marie Presley Says She’ll Eat Her Own Foot If Austin Butler Doesn’t Win An Oscar For “Elvis”
Some of us might have watched the first official trailer for Baz Luhrmann’s biopic, Elvis, and thought Elvis was a weird name for a movie that looks like it’s about Grease-era John Travolta. Maybe some of us shady types who think Austin Butler wouldn’t even place 5th runner up in an Elvis Presley look-a-like contest at a Florida state fair should wait until the movie comes out and stop judging a book based on its trailer. Because Lisa Marie Presley, someone who could be considered an expert on all things Elvis, believes that Austin Butler’s performance as The King is so good, he may as well start practicing his Best Actor acceptance speech for the 2023 Academy Awards in the mirror right now.
Being the only child of an American music icon, Lisa Marie could have been well within her constitutional rights to hate the ever-loving shit out of a biopic about her father. Especially considering Elvis isn’t just a Walk Hard-style biopic about Elvis, but about his complicated relationship with his manager, Col. Tom Parker (played by Tom Hanks). Tom Hanks is like Meryl Streep’s universally beloved male equivalent – essentially, if he appears in a movie that seems even the most mildly awards-buzzy, he’s bound to find himself on the receiving end of at least a handful of nominations. Austin Butler is a little newer to the awards show game, and a big flashy biopic could be a guaranteed award snatcher. The only issue is, only time will tell if it’s an Oscar or a Razzie. According to a recent Instagram post by Lisa Marie, it’s the former and definitely not the latter.
After explaining why she hasn’t been very active on social media (she continues to mourn the loss of her son Benjamin Keough who died of suicide at the age of 27), she stated that despite the grief she’s still working through, she needed to pop in and preach the gospel of Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis. via Entertainment Weekly:
I do want to take a moment to let you know that I have seen Baz Luhrmann’s movie Elvis twice now, and let me tell you that it is nothing short of spectacular. Absolutely exquisite.” Presley said Butler “channeled and embodied my father’s heart and soul beautifully,” heralding his performance as “done accurately and respectfully.”
If Butler does not win an Oscar for the role, Presley said, “I will eat my own foot.” She continued, “You can feel and witness Baz’s pure love, care, and respect for my father throughout this beautiful film, and it is finally something that myself and my children and their children can be proud of forever… It breaks my heart that my son isn’t here to see it. He would have absolutely loved it as well.”
The Presley family has repeatedly sanctioned the film and Baz’s work on it. Lisa Marie’s mom (how dare I refer to her as just Lisa Marie’s mom) Priscilla Presley attended this year’s Met Gala with Baz Luhrmann, so obviously they all think it’s a great representation of Elvis. Which is great for them. But not so great for fans of pettiness or public drama. Because everyone knows that one of the best things to come out of a biopic is when one of the subject’s surviving family members decides to take a shady swipe at the project.
That little “haha” at the end of Lisa Marie’s claim that she’ll eat her own foot should Austin get snubbed by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences is probably a sign she’s not totally serious. Although, maybe she really is that confident in Austin’s portrayal of her dad. In any case, I hope the Academy is listening. Because if Austin’s name isn’t read on Oscar night next year, Lisa Marie might pull a Will Smith and jump on stage, threatening to shove her foot up someone’s ass before she is forced to eat it.
Pic: YouTube