By We learned a week or so ago that Baz Lurhmann is adding to the ever-expanding Mid-Century Rock Icon Universe with an Elvis biopic focusing on the King's early years in Memphis.
We also learned that there were a few frontrunners for the role from a pool of the most pelvically-mobile young actors in Hollywood, including Harry Styles, Baby Driver's Ansel Elgort, Whiplash's Miles Teller and Aaron Taylor-Johnson. None of them got the gig though - Luhrmann's Elvis will be the relatively unheralded 27-year-old Austin Butler.
You've probably not bumped into Butler before but this summer will put him on your radar. Aside from playing the King, he's in Jim Jarmusch's zombie flick The Dead Don't Die with Adam Driver and Bill Murray, and has a role in Quentin Tarantino's star-stuffed Once Upon A Time In... Hollywood.
"I knew I couldn’t make this film if the casting wasn’t absolutely right, and we searched thoroughly for an actor with the ability to evoke the singular natural movement and vocal qualities of this peerless star, but also the inner vulnerability of the artist," Lurhmann told Deadline.
"Throughout the casting process, it was an honour for me to encounter such a vast array of talent. I had heard about Austin Butler from his stand-out role opposite Denzel Washington in The Iceman Cometh on Broadway, and through a journey of extensive screen testing and music and performance workshops, I knew unequivocally that I had found someone who could embody the spirit of one of the world’s most iconic musical figures."
No pressure.
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