‘Elvis’ Star Austin Butler Reveals How Overcoming Shyness Launched His Acting Career
Starring in Baz Luhrmann’s dazzling biopic, Elvis has made Austin Butler one of the biggest actors in Hollywood. His portrayal of music legend Elvis Presley has thrust him into the spotlight, and his face is one of the most recognizable in the world now. But, despite playing one of history’s most charismatic icons, Butler admits that he is, in fact, incredibly shy.
Before ‘Elvis’: Austin Butler movies and television
Butler began acting as an extra at age 12 before landing a reoccurring role on Nickelodeon’s Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide in 2005. While working on the series, Butler also starred in two episodes of the hit Disney Channel show Hannah Montana and another Nickelodeon hit, iCarly.
Butler continued his stint in kids’ content with shows like Zoey 101, Ruby & the Rockets, The Wizards of Waverly Place, and Disney’s Jonas.
Then, in 2011, at age 20, Butler played Zack in the Lifetime film The Bling Ring and began being cast in shows aimed at teens, including Switched at Birth, The Carrie Diaries, Arrow, and MTV’s The Shannara Chronicles.
But it wasn’t until Butler strayed from screen to stage that his career really began to gain traction.
Austin Butler credits his mom in helping him find his way to acting
Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter in an actors’ roundtable, Butler reveals he was extremely shy throughout his young years. But, after he “stumbled into extra work,” Butler found that acting was a way for him to overcome that shyness.
“I felt like I’d found my tribe,” Butler says, going on to credit his career to his late mother. “My mom saw that in me,” the actor says, “and I owe her for everything because she quit her job and drove me to auditions and took me to acting classes.”
Though Butler was still starring in child programming at the time, the actor recalls mentors guiding him to content that would change his views on the craft forever. After watching film classics like Raging Bull and East of Eden, Butler says, “I started falling in love with the craft.”
Austin Butler saw ‘Elvis’ as the ‘Everest’ of acting
Butler’s career had begun to take off, but following his mother’s death from cancer in 2014, Butler describes going through a period of depression and emotional crisis. “I’d never experienced pain like that before, and I started to question … ‘Is acting a noble profession?’”
Then came the role that would usher Butler into a new era of his career. In 2018, Butler starred as Don Parritt in the Denzel-Washington-led The Iceman Cometh on Broadway. Touted as the only “actor” amidst a cast of mere “performers” (which, ahem, included Washington along with a slew of other veteran actors), Butler received incredible reviews (the New Yorker).
“That’s the moment that changed my career,” Butler says. Butler followed up his turn on Broadway with Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, where he played the murderer, Tex Watson. The role, again, earned him a mass of acclaim.
When the opportunity came for Butler to audition for Elvis, the actor tells the Hollywood Reporter many had already compared him to the icon. “The month before [the audition], I was going to look at Christmas lights with a friend,” Butler recalls.
“And there was an Elvis Christmas song on the radio, and I was singing along, and my friend looked over at me and goes, “You’ve got to play Elvis.”
Still, the actor thought it was a long shot, comparing the role of Elvis to the “Everest” of acting. Elvis was released in theaters in June 2022 and skyrocketed Butler to stardom.
Already having won a Golden Globe for the role and a People’s Choice Award, Butler is expected to be among the nominees for Best Actor in the upcoming Oscars. And while Butler still claims to be shy while not in character, the actor may have significantly less time out of character in years to come as he continues his journey as Hollywood’s favorite new leading man.
