austin butler
Warner Bros. and Legendary unveiled a new trailer for the highly anticipated Dune sequel on Thursday (June 29), and fans were introduced to new characters played by Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Christopher Walken and more. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “This world is beyond cruelty. We’ve been fighting […]
Austin Butler has made his case to appear on Taylor Swift‘s next rerecording.
Butler took part in W Magazine‘s Lyrical Improv segment, in which actors do a dramatic reading of a popular song. The Elvis star was given Swift’s 2012 hit, “Red,” and he turned the song into a devastating tale of heartbreak, adding to the already emotional lyrics with his low-toned voice and perfectly timed pauses.
“Losing him was blue, like I’d never known / Missing him was dark gray, all alone / Forgetting him was like trying to know somebody you never met / But loving him was red,” he read in the chorus.
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“Was that alright?” he asked with a laugh when he completed the task.
Swift unveiled the Taylor’s Version of her Red album in 2021, and immediately debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart with 605,000 equivalent album units, and the 10-minute version of “All Too Well” shot to the top of the Hot 100 chart. “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (The Short Film)” was up for song of the year and won best music video at the 2023 Grammys.
Watch Butler’s rendition of “Red” below.
It’s been nearly 10 years since Austin Butler‘s mom Lori died of cancer in 2014, when the Elvis actor was just 23 years old. In an exclusive clip shared with Billboard from Butler’s upcoming conversation with Willie Geist on Sunday TODAY, the Golden Globe-winning actor revealed how his beloved mother would feel about his success.
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“I think she’d be very proud,” Butler shared, choking up and visibly teary-eyed. “She sacrificed so much. She quit her job to drive me to auditions and drive me to acting classes. She’d wait outside and drive all the way back down to Orange County.”
He added that Lori wanted to be an actress herself back when she was in high school. “I think I’m sort of getting to live this life for both of us, in that way,” he added. “She was my best friend and I think she’d be happy.”
On the influence that his mother had on him as he continues his acting journey, Butler praised Lori’s benevolent personality. “She was also just the most kind person,” he said. “She lit up every room and she was so vibrant. She was just nice to everyone. There’s so many things that — I just want to make her proud. I want her to live through me and the lessons that she taught me and the way that she was.”
Watch the clip below, and catch the full interview on NBC News’ Sunday TODAY with Willie Geist on Feb. 19.
Austin Butler caught some heat from fans earlier this month when he referred to his ex-girlfriend Vanessa Hudgens as an unnamed “friend” when discussing how he landed the role of Elvis Presley in the 2022 Baz Luhrmann biopic for The Hollywood Reporter‘s Actor’s Roundtable.
However, in a new interview with The Los Angeles Times, Butler cleared up that the friend was in fact Hudgens, whom he dated for nearly a decade before the duo split in 2020. “I was with my partner at the time,” he told the reporter, who recalled Butler’s story, in which he was in the car when his “friend” heard him singing along to an Elvis song and encouraged him to seek out the role of the King of Rock and Roll.
“The month before I heard that Baz was making the movie, I was going to look at Christmas lights with a friend, 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.’ I said, ‘Oh, that’s such a long shot,’” Butler said during the THR interview, without mentioning Hudgens by name. Fans pieced together that the High School Musical star was the subject of the story, as she told a nearly identical anecdote back on a 2019 episode of Live with Kelly and Ryan.
When the LA Times reporter followed up, asking if the person in the car was Hudgens, Butler agreed. “We’d been together for so long and she had this sort of clairvoyant moment and so I really, I owe her a lot for believing in me,” he shared.
Elvis star Austin Butler is remembering the “bright light” of Lisa Marie Presley, a day after the singer/songwriter and only child of Elvis Presley died Thursday at age 54.
“My heart is completely shattered for Riley, Finley, Harper and Priscilla at the tragic and unexpected loss of Lisa Marie,” Butler said in a statement, acknowledging Lisa Marie’s three surviving children — 33-year-old actress Riley Keough and 14-year-old twins Finley and Harper Lockwood — as well as mother Priscilla Presley, 77. “I am eternally grateful for the time I was lucky enough to be near her bright light and will forever cherish the quiet moments we shared. Her warmth, her love and her authenticity will always be remembered.”
Butler nabbed the coveted role of Elvis Presley in director Baz Luhrmann’s 2022 biopic of the music icon and had the opportunity to spend time with the Presley family, who gave the film their blessing. The actor had just thanked Lisa Marie and Priscilla onstage at Tuesday’s 2023 Golden Globe Awards as he accepted the best actor in a drama award for Elvis.
“Thank you for opening your hearts, your memories, your home to me,” he said to the mother-daughter duo in the audience. “Lisa Marie, Priscilla, I love you forever.”
Luhrmann also shared his condolences via Instagram on Friday, posting a photo of Lisa Marie with Butler and writing, “Over the last year, the entire Elvis movie family and I have felt the privilege of Lisa Marie’s kind embrace. Her sudden, shocking loss has devastated people all around the world. I know her fans everywhere join me in sharing prayers of love and support with her mother, Priscilla, and her wonderful daughters Riley, Finley and Harper.”
Lisa Marie was reportedly rushed to the hospital early in the day Thursday after going into cardiac arrest. Priscilla Presley shared the news of her daughter’s death on Thursday evening.
A day after winning at the 2023 Golden Globes, Zendaya and Austin Butler have a new awards show to look forward to: the 2023 Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Both young superstars scored nominations Wednesday (Jan. 11) at the SAG Awards – Butler for outstanding performance by a male actor in a leading role for his electric breakthrough role as Elvis in Baz Luhrmann’s 2022 biopic of the music icon and Zendaya for outstanding performance by a female actor in a drama series for her second season as Rue in HBO’s Euphoria. It’s the first SAG nomination for both actors.
The Banshees of Inisherin and Everything Everywhere All at Once dominate the film nominations, with five nods each, while Ozark and Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story lead TV nods with four apiece.
The 2023 SAG Awards will take place Feb. 26 and air live on Netflix for the first time. See the full list of nominees below:
FILM
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion PictureBabylonThe Banshees of InisherinEverything Everywhere All at OnceThe FabelmansWomen Talking
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading RoleAustin Butler, ElvisColin Farrell, The Banshees of InisherinBrendan Fraser, The WhaleBill Nighy, LivingAdam Sandler, Hustler
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading RoleCate Blanchett, TárViola Davis, The Woman KingAna de Armas, BlondeDanielle Deadwyler, TillMichelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting RolePaul Dano, The FabelmansBrendan Gleeson, The Banshees of InishirinBarry Keoghan, The Banshees of InisherinKe Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All at OnceEddie Redmayne, The Good Nurse
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting RoleAngela Bassett, Black Panther: Wakanda ForeverHong Chau, The WhaleKerry Condon, The Banshees of InisherinJamie Lee Curtis, Everything Everywhere All at OnceStephanie Hsu, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion PictureAvatar: The Way of WaterThe BatmanBlack Panther: Wakanda ForeverTop Gun: MaverickThe Woman King
TELEVISION
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama SeriesBetter Call SaulThe CrownOzarkSeveranceThe White Lotus
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy SeriesAbbott ElementaryBarryThe BearHacksOnly Murders in the Building
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama SeriesJennifer Coolidge, The White LotusElizabeth Debicki, The CrownJulia Garner, OzarkLaura Linney, OzarkZendaya, Euphoria
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama SeriesJonathan Banks, Better Call SaulJason Bateman, OzarkJeff Bridges, The Old ManBob Odenkirk, Better Call SaulAdam Scott, Severance
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy SeriesChristina Applegate, Dead to MeRachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. MaiselQuinta Brunson, Abbott ElementaryJenna Ortega, WednesdayJean Smart, Hacks
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy SeriesAnthony Carrigan, BarryBill Hader, BarrySteve Martin, Only Murders in the BuildingMartin Short, Only Murders in the BuildingJeremy Allen White, The Bear
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited SeriesSteve Carell, The PatientTaron Egerton, Black BirdSam Elliott, 1883Paul Walter Hauser, Black BirdEvan Peters, Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited SeriesEmily Blunt, The EnglishJessica Chastain, George & TammyJulia Garner, Inventing AnnaNiecy Nash-Betts, Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer StoryAmanda Seyfried, The Dropout
Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television SeriesAndorThe BoysHouse of the DragonThe Lord of the Rings: The Rings of PowerStranger Things
Austin Butler is ready to make his big debut. Not as Elvis (he did that already, starring in a biopic about the rock ‘n’ roll icon this past summer), but as a first-time Saturday Night Live host.
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On Wednesday (Dec. 14), the long-running comedy show shared the first teaser for Butler’s episode, which held a small hint of what fans can expect.
The 35-second clip kicked off with Butler heading toward the show’s famous stage, breathing an excited sigh and saying “Here we go” before surveying the space. As he walks up to the stage, a soft breeze blows through his golden blond hair and a twinkle hits his eye — but the illusion is broken when a stage hand interrupts his fantasy.
“In this sketch you’ll be the Christmas goblin,” the stage hand informs the actor. A hideous mask with a big red Santa hat on top is placed on his face by a separate stage hand, but Butler remains cool and collected. “Let’s do this,” he says, mask on his face and hands on his hips.
Butler’s hosting gig marks his first time on the show, but Saturday’s musical guest Lizzo is a veteran at this point after two previous SNL performances. Lizzo made her debut in December 2019, when she performed a holiday-themed version of “Good as Hell,” and she returned last season in April, when she both hosted and performed “About Damn Time” and “Special.”
Butler and Lizzo’s SNL episode airs Saturday, Dec. 1, on NBC. Watch Butler’s SNL teaser in the video above.
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