Jeremy Strong would probably approve of the level of dedication. Apparently, Austin Butler was so committed to his role as Elvis Presley in Baz Luhrmann’s musical biopic that he still subconsciously slips into the twangy impersonation. “At this point, I keep asking people, ‘Is this my voice?’ because it feels, this feels like my real [voice],” he told ET. “It’s one of those things where certain things trigger it. And other times as well, it’s … I don’t know, 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 isn’t the first time that Butler, whose take on the musician has received the approval of Presley’s real-life family members, has hinted at the lengths he went to in order to sound like the musician. Previously, he told Elle Australia that was “obsessing” over his preparation to play Presley in the movie, which releases June 24. “It really is like muscular habits, your mouth can change,” Butler explained, adding that he doesn’t know how he’ll sound in 20 years after playing other characters. Will he adopt a new voice for every press tour, or will his impressions start to mix together in some kind of Method acting melting pot? After Elvis, the actor is set to star as Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen in next year’s Dune sequel, so perhaps we’ll find out then. Though we might want to wait and see how many speaking lines he gets first — we haven’t forgotten what happened to Zendaya.
