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Austin Butler has opened up about the wild lengths he went to with his transformation while filming the recent Elvis biopic.
The 31-year-old took on the role of the acclaimed musician in the flick, and has nabbed a best actor Oscar nomination for his stunning portrayal.
A lot has been said about his lingering accent, with many questioning why he was still speaking with the famed southern drawl months after filming was completed.
However, in a new interview, the actor revealed that he went all out to make his screen presence as authentic as possible – and even drank tubs of warm ice cream in preparation.
Reflecting on the shoot, he began: ‘Filming it, we had this body adjustment suit as Catherine Martin [costume designer] calls it, we don’t fall them fat suits…’
When it was suggested that he didn’t put on weight for the role, he clarified: ‘I did at the beginning, especially when I was trying to get the part.
‘Baz really welcomed me on the journey, we were trying to figure out if I could play older Elvis.
‘My agent actually told me, “They don’t know if you can play older Elvis so I think you need to gain some weight.”
‘I’d heard that Ryan Gosling, when he was going to do The Lovely Bones, microwaved Häagen-Dazs and would drink it. So, I started doing that.
‘I would go get two dozen doughnuts and eat them all. I really started to pack on some pounds.
‘It’s fun for a week or so, and then you feel awful with yourself.’
All of a sudden, weeks of microwaved ice cream and doughnuts doesn’t sound that appetizing…
‘We were also planning on shooting chronologically in the beginning,’ he continued on the Variety Awards Circuit Podcast. ‘That quickly went out the window, then especially with Covid, it was just impossible.
‘That was another one of the tricky aspects of the film, Elvis changed so much from the time he was 19 to 42, and that’s the age that I was playing him.
‘One day we’d be in 1974, and then next day we’d be in 1956, so you’ve got to be able to switch back-and-forth vocally and physically.’
In the film, Austin took on the role of the legendary singer, opposite Tom Hanks, who played his infamous manager Colonel Tom Parker.
Fans have voiced their confusion over his accent in recent appearances, questioning why he still sounds similar to the Jailhouse Rock singer.
While on the Graham Norton Show, he admitted that he is slowly but surely ‘getting rid’ of the accent, but managed to do some serious damage to his vocal cords during filming.
‘I am getting rid of the accent, but I have probably damaged my vocal cords with all that singing,’ he told the host.
‘One song took 40 takes!’
‘It has been a whirlwind and it’s amazing because when you are making a film you never really know how it will be received,’ he added of the support from fans.
‘With this one there were so many ways it could go wrong so to be received in the way it has means the world to me.’
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