Austin Butler Has Kicked Off His “Elvis” Oscar Campaign But Declined To Talk About His Ex Vanessa Hudgens

May 25, 2022 / Posted by:

Lady Gaga is probably kicking herself in the pants right now for not auditioning for Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis. Had she nabbed the role of Elvis Presley, she’d be the one telling British GQ how her “body just started shutting down” as soon as they wrapped because of the stress. Instead, Austin Butler gets to use that line in his march toward Oscar buzz, and so far, the best that Gaga can hope for is a Best Original Song nomination for Hold My Hand (Take My Whole Life Too) for the Top Gun 2: Gaga’s Turn soundtrack.

If I’m being honest, and I am, I actually think Gaga would have made a great Elvis. But I think we should wait for someone to steal the plot from Victor/Victoria and remake it as Elvis/Elvira, which would win every award there is, plus some new ones they’d have to make up just to do it justice. But for now, we have a pretty conventional, by Baz standards, family and estate-approved biopic starring Vanessa Hudgens’s ex. Elvis’ daughter, Lisa Marie Presley already said she’d “eat [her] own foot (maybe she gave up on hats after her Michael Jackson phase) if Austin’s performance doesn’t get nominated for an Oscar. Now, Austin is further fanning flames by letting us know what a toll the transformation from actor to actor playing a role has taken on his body. People reports:

Playing Elvis Presley took a toll on Austin Butler.

The 30-year-old actor told British GQ that when he completed filming the upcoming Elvis movie back in March 2021, he became hospitalized and bedridden for a week. According to the magazine, Butler was diagnosed with a virus that simulates appendicitis.

“The next day I woke up at 4 in the morning with excruciating pain, and I was rushed to hospital,” he said. “My body just started shutting down the day after I finished Elvis.

Director Baz Luhrmann recalled about Butler’s performance, “Look, I’ve worked with every kind of actor and every kind of performer. And I accept that they have freak-outs, that’s okay. But Austin, he doesn’t freak out. He has the most polite panic of anyone I’ve ever met.”

Keeping things bottled up seems to be Austin’s MO when it comes to talking about his love life too, which is yet another reason why Gaga would have been the better choice. She would have found a way to create a showmance situation between herself and Tom Hanks who plays Elvis’ Svengali manager Colonel Tom Parker. Yet here we have Austin who can barely be chuffed to acknowledge the fact that he’s now dating Kaia Gerber (who previously dated Jacob Elordi who is now dating Olivia Jade) even though he had been with Vanessa for 9 years when his casting in Elvis was announced. According to Us Weekly:

His lips are sealed! Austin Butler was asked about his split from ex Vanessa Hudgens — and about his budding romance with Kaia Gerber — but the actor wasn’t ready to spill any secrets.

Butler, 30, spoke candidly about preparing to embody rock icon Elvis Presley in the upcoming biopic Elvis, telling GQ in a cover story published on Wednesday, May 25, that he started to “lose touch” with himself after taking on the tough role. When the conversation turned to his breakup with Hudgens, 33, the Carrie Diaries alum “politely” avoided giving a straight answer.

“Life is full of changes, and you’ve got to find a way to constantly be evolving and growing,” he told the outlet.

Good thing he wasn’t with Vanessa when he landed in the ER she probably would have comforted him by saying “people are gonna die. Which is terrible. But, like, inevitable?” When asked about his relationship with Kaia, Austin was similarly evasive saying “I don’t think there’s anything I want to share about that, but thank you for providing the space,” which sounds shady as hell but I can’t exactly explain why. Maybe by the time Elvis leaves his building, he’ll be more open and can tell us what it’s like being just one degree of peen away from Olivia Jade and Pete Davidson.

Pic: JOHN NACION/startraksphoto.com

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