Austin Butler

Turgid and shallow, the film costarring Tom Hanks as Colonel Tom Parker adds little to our understanding of an icon.

The film does at least take advantage of some present-day hindsight: it is careful to note that Presley and other white rockers like him owed a huge debt to Black musicians who were criminally undervalued at the time (and now). But in some ways, that’s the only analysis the film bothers with. But Elvis yanks and jerks and rattles all over the place, looking for shape and purpose in every direction and finding little of it. It may well be a star-making turn for the actor, a bold announcement of thespian vigor and ingenuity that even devoted fans of The Carrie Diaries didn’t know he had. Much later in this turgid 160 minute film, Butler gives good deterioration, all the pill haze and frustrated rage that defined so much of the singer’s final years. He has to embody one of the most impersonated people in modern history in, somehow, a new or revealing way—to move past caricature and toward something like personhood. But little of his inner life, the fire uniquely his, is communicated to the audience.

Kaia Gerber and Austin Butler shared a sweet kiss at the film festival's premiere of Baz Luhrmann's new film 'Elvis,' where Butler stars as the titular ...

Before finding each other, Gerber and Butler each had previous relationships. The duo was first linked together in December 2021. Kaia Gerber and Austin Butler Share a Passionate Kiss at the Cannes Film Festival Elvis Premiere

Baz Luhrmann debuted 'Elvis' at Cannes to a rapturous response.

Warner Bros. is opening “Elvis” in U.S. theaters on June 24. And on the phone, a voice said, ‘Hello, my name is [former festival director] Pierre Rissient, I am from the Cannes Film Festival, and we have seen your film and we would like to offer you a 12 o’clock screening in the Palais’…And at the end of the [screening in Cannes], I remember a security guard came over…and he grabbed me and said, ‘Monsieur, from this moment, your life will never be the same again.'” If he doesn’t get an Oscar for this, I will eat my own foot.” Austin captured that so beautifully.” And for that, we are eternally grateful, Cannes. All I can say is: Merci beaucoup, merci beaucoup, merci beaucoup.” The film joined “Top Gun: Maverick” as the two Hollywood tentpoles to world premiere at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. He told Variety that the evening prior, Butler screened the film for the first time, with girlfriend Gerber, and both were in tears. In my humble opinion, his performance is unprecedented and finally done accurately and respectfully. Mason, who began as a model and dancer, earned mid-screening applause. And I got a call on the telephone and it was a French man, and I was holding a tin bucket above my head because the night before someone had been killed by a coconut that fell out of a tree. Luhrmann’s films are often over-the-top and extravagant affairs, which is exactly the vibe Warner Bros. brought to the director’s “Elvis” world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. The studio surprised premiere attendees with a concert on the beach following the film’s debut screening. The audience at the Cannes Film Festival was trembling for Austin Butler as the King in Baz Luhrmann’s world premiere of “ Elvis.”

One critic called Hanks' turn as Tom Parker in the Baz Luhrmann biopic "possibly the most insufferable movie character ever conceived"

(“Arguably the least appealing performance of [Hanks’] career,” David Rooney writes, “A creepy, beady-eyed leer from under a mountain of latex, with a grating, unidentifiable accent that becomes no less perplexing even after the character’s murky Dutch origins have been revealed.”) Per Variety’s Owen Gleiberman, Butler’s turn as Old Elvis transforms the movie, making it, “A woefully imperfect but at times arresting drama that builds to something moving and true.” It’s as if Luhrmann watched Hanks’ performance from The Ladykillers and thought: “OK, what if that, but times 100 and for almost three entire hours?”

Baz Luhrmann's epic biopic about the life and career of Elvis Presley has certainly been a long time coming. Warner Bros ...

“I was like, ‘This is what Elvis felt when he was put into the Army,’ ” Austin said. “I get a phone call out of the blue from Denzel Washington, who I did not know. Austin ended up being bedridden for a week after he was diagnosed with a virus that simulates appendicitis. “Just images of Elvis everywhere, from every time period,” Austin told the publication. “My body just started shutting down the day after I finished Elvis.” As the severity of the pandemic became more clear, production was shut down indefinitely.

In March 2021, day after Austin Butler had finished filming Elvis, the actor was rushed to the hospital. Learn more about his commitment to playing Elvis ...

Once the movie wrapped, Butler struggled to let go of Presley. "You can lose touch with who you actually are," he shared. The 30-year-old landed the role after he submitted a video of himself singing "Unchained Melody" in a bathrobe and impressed the director with how much he was able to get into character. "My body just started shutting down the day after I finished Elvis."

Kaia Gerber and Austin Butler showed their burning love for each other during the Elvis premiere at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. See the PDA-filled red ...

"My body just started shutting down the day after I finished Elvis." The couple held each other's heads with both hands before locking lips in the middle of the crowd. The model and Elvis star were seen going in for a passionate kiss at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival premiere of Elvis on May 25.

Austin Butler and Vanessa Hudgens dated for nine years, so it's little surprise the 'Elvis' star was most respectful when speaking about her.

“But thank you for providing the space.” The pair dated from 2011 to 2020, ending their nearly decade-long romance in January of that year. AUSTIN BUTLER has opened up about his relationship with ex girlfriend Vanessa Hudgens — in an incredibly elegant way.