Austin Butler ended up in the hospital after assuming the persona of Elvis Presley.
Butler, 31, who plays “Elvis,” claimed that portraying the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll was “the greatest ride of my life” but that it ultimately caught up with him.
He admitted to People on the red carpet for the 2023 SAG Awards on Sunday, “I didn’t get sick the entire time I filmed, but the day that I finished, I ended up in the emergency room.”
Butler admitted that before moving on to another project, he “spent a week in bed.”
He revealed to British GQ in May 2022 that a virus he caught that mimicked a serious illness caused him to “wake up at 4 in the morning with excruciating pain” and be “rushed to hospital.”
“My body just started shutting down the day after I finished ‘Elvis,’” Butler recalled.
Additionally, he revealed to People that while singing Elvis’ rendition of “Never Been to Spain,” he lost his now-famous voice.
“We did so many takes. And at a certain point, I just lost my voice,” Butler explained. “So then I went on vocal rest for a couple days, and I was able to come back.”
Butler has demonstrated a strong commitment to Elvis’ voice by continuing to speak in the late singer’s voice. Many people find Butler’s continued use of the voice to be “cringe-worthy.”
Butler’s voice coach, Irene Bartlett, defended his persistent Elvis accent by telling ABC Gold Coast that he spent years developing a “connection” with Elvis’ personality and was wholly committed to playing the part. Bartlett was hired to work with Butler in 2019.
“I feel sorry people are saying that, you know, it’s still acting [but] he’s actually taken [the voice] on board,” she said. “I don’t know how long that will last, or if it’s going to be there forever.”
She acknowledged that Butler’s voice change for an older Elvis might have put too much strain on him.
He did, however, receive a Golden Globe nomination for best actor for his work in the biopic. Backstage at the Globes, he addressed his voice change, saying it is now, in fact, a part of his DNA.
“I don’t think I sound like him still, but I guess I must because I hear it a lot,” the actor said. “I often liken it to when somebody lives in another country for a long time, and I had three years where that 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.”
