How Austin Butler Changed His Voice To Sound Exactly Like Elvis Presley
Austin Butler proved himself to be Hollywood's next big star with his breakthrough role in Baz Luhrmann's musical biopic "Elvis." His impeccable performance and fierce commitment to playing "The King" were a revelation to many, not least to Elvis fans and Elvis' own family, Priscilla and the late Lisa Marie. "It was mind-blowing, truly mind-blowing," Lisa Marie, who unexpectedly died on January 12, said of Butler's acting. "I had to take five days to process it because it was so incredible and so spot-on... and so authentic."
It truly was, though it wasn't Butler's looks or his moves that garnered everyone's attention — it was his ability to sound almost exactly like Elvis, having changed his voice and picked up a new accent to match that of the rock 'n' roll icon. Following comments on his Golden Globes speech, where fans noticed that he has yet to get rid himself of his Elvis-like southern drawl, Butler said that Elvis has become "part of his DNA" in that way. "I often liken it to when somebody lives in another country for a long time," he said (via Variety). "I had three years where [Elvis] was my only focus in life, so I'm sure there's just pieces of my DNA that will always be linked in that way."
But how exactly did Butler change his voice to sound like the music legend? Well, it wasn't magic.
Austin Butler worked with a dialect coach
Austin Butler went through a painstaking process of learning how to sound exactly like The King. According to Entertainment Weekly, Butler relied on Elvis Presley's old interviews and past performances to study his unique vocal tone and accent. He also worked with a dialect coach to help him perfect his impersonation of the icon. "I would take an interview or a speech that he had on stage where he is talking to the audience, and I would practice it as though I was trying to get it to be exact. That way, I couldn't hear a difference between my voice and his," Butler explained. "Then I would have my dialect coach there going, 'This is off a little bit,' and I'd practice. I'd just keep honing it in until I could get as specific as possible."
However, Presley's laugh was another matter. Appearing on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," Butler said he made a compilation of Presley's laughter and spent hours each day laughing to himself while listening to Presley's records. "I lived right on the beach in Australia, and I would walk down the beach for hours with the headphone in laughing as Elvis," he said. ("Elvis" was filmed in Queenstown, Australia.) "It looked like this man just absolutely out of his mind. There were surfers looking at me going, 'What's happening?'" To Butler's credit, he did nail Presley's laughter — just take a look at this clip where he sounded almost identical to the rock superstar. Impressive!
Austin Butler sings like Elvis, too
Not only does Austin Butler talk and laugh like Elvis Presley — he's got the icon's singing voice impressively down pat, too. In his interview with Entertainment Weekly, Butler said he practiced every day while preparing and during the filming of "Elvis." "[I] would do my singing exercises first thing in the morning," said Butler, who reportedly sang all of Presley's early music in the biopic. "It is really like a muscle." It wasn't as easy as simply copying Presley's voice, however. Butler also needed to learn Presley's vocal mannerisms, which he said could be "a little tricky." For this, Baz Luhrmann and the production team behind "Elvis" hired singing coaches from New York, Los Angeles, and Australia to work with Butler. "I knew that the singing aspect of [the role] was going to be something I really wanted to give everything I had to," Butler told EW.
Previously, Butler said he felt an enormous responsibility in playing the rock 'n' roll king in "Elvis," as he acknowledged that he had very huge shoes to fill. "In the beginning I thought, 'this is impossible,'" he told the Irish Examiner. "How could I feel anything but I'm less than this superhuman individual?" He said he owed it to Presley's family and fans to do his role justice. "It's such an incredible responsibility... [Not only] to Elvis and his life, [but] his entire family and all the people around the world who love him so dearly," he said.