The Academy Awards are not that far. And especially after the Golden Globes, people have an idea of the movies, actors, and cast that will be nominated for it. The Hollywood Reporter, like every year, got the possible actors in its office for an Actors Roundtable. The names are easily the best performers of the year and have impressed the critics. Everything Everywhere All at Once’s Key Huy Quan, Elvis’ Austin Butler, Hustle’s Adam Sandler, The Whale’s Brendan Fraser, The Banshees of Inisherin’s Colin Farrell and The Inspection’s Jeremy Pope were in it.
The table was studded with a remarkable cast, who delved into their journeys, personal loss, and how they motivate themselves and find the determination to constantly improve their craft. In this interview, Austin Butler, who played Elvis Presley In Elvis, opened up about a dark phase when he almost quit acting.
Also read: Elvis Star Austin Butler Reportedly Joins the MCU as Fantastic Four’s Human Torch
Austin Butler’s Mom played an important part in his early acting career
The actor was asked about his early acting career, to which Butler explained that acting was a side job where he earned a few bucks. He was a shy kid but he enjoyed the company of actors. His mom understood that and started driving him to auditions. This began the early career of Austin Butler, where he worked with Nickelodeon and Disney, which was huge at that time.
“started at about 12. I just stumbled into extra work. I was an incredibly shy kid. If that kid knew that I was sitting around all my heroes right now, talking like this in public, he wouldn’t believe it. But being around other actors, suddenly I felt like I’d found my tribe. I started wanting to be around other people. My mom saw that in me, and I owe her for everything because she quit her job and drove me to auditions, and took me to acting classes. Then I started working. This was in the heyday of Nickelodeon, and you’d make 100 bucks a day or something, and, as a kid, that was huge! Then, as I started to get certain mentors who’d say, “You’ve got to watch Raging Bull and East of Eden,” I started falling in love with the craft. But I was stuck in a lane of doing Nickelodeon and Disney. Then I moved on to young adult TV shows”
Austin Butler’s mother’s sacrifice provided Butler with an early start in his career. The actor also very smartly transitioned from the Disney lane to that of Young Adult. He also came across some mentors who would have a huge impact throughout his career later on finally leading up to his big film, Elvis
Austin Butler almost left acting after losing his mother to cancer
Unfortunately, the actor lost his mother to cancer, after which he was thrown into an endless pit of grief and depression. Butler explained that he had never experienced grief like that before and it made him question everything, including his career choice. Suddenly acting did not feel as important, and he took a break.
“After my mom passed away, I’d never experienced pain like that before, and I started to question. Suddenly I was around doctors and people that were hurting a lot in hospitals, and I thought, “Is acting a noble profession? Should I be doing this or should I give myself in some way that can help people who are dealing with cancer or something like that?”
He could not answer this question, neither could he escape it; as he no longer enjoyed acting the actor took a break from it. Things became worse and he hit rock bottom until the phone rang and his manager called to finally get Butler on stage.
“I was 24, 25 at that time. I thought, “I’ve got a little bit of money in the bank. I’ll just take time off.” Then I started sinking into a deeper and deeper depression. It was about six or eight months of that. Then my agent called and said, “You’ve got to put yourself on tape for The Iceman Cometh. Denzel’s doing it on Broadway.”
The actor prepared for the role and auditioned for it, he flew from LA to New York with doubt that the Broadway guys will rip him apart. Thankfully he got the job and soon got noticed for Elvis.
“I flew out early and worked with one of my acting coaches who’s been a mentor for a long time, Larry Moss, for three days in a row, and then I went in the room, and they gave me the job in the room. And that’s the moment that changed my career.”
Once the young actor learned about Elvis, and the movie being made, he started preparing for the role before he even got screen-tested for it. Much later, Butler gave a screen test and got selected to play the King of Rock n Roll.
Elvis is available to stream on Amazon Prime, Hulu, Apple TV, and HBO Max.
Source: THR
