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Austin Butler star of The Shannara Chronicles on SpikeTV - NYCC 2017

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- I would be in the hair and makeup chair in the morning thinking we're gonna do a scene that I prepared for eight months. And he'd say, "I rewrote the entire scene this morning." (upbeat music) Hey, I'm Austin Butler. I'm here with Esquire. And they've asked me to explain some things about my life and career. So let's dive in shall we? (fast upbeat music) This role was very physically demanding. How did you learn to shake like Elvis? I had two years of doing nothing but obsessing. There's so much footage of Elvis out there. So, it's overwhelming at first. It's so surreal. We're in one of the archives of Graceland right now. I remember the first time I came here, I felt so much responsibility and so much pressure and I had so much imposter syndrome. Baz had built this space that we lovingly called the dojo and there was a big sound stage that they sort of converted into a space where there was tons of mirrors and images of Elvis everywhere. And a giant TV that I could watch footage on. And I, some of my fondest memories were just in there trying to figure things out. Biggest learning from working with Baz Luhrmann? God, he's just the greatest. I learned a lot about collaboration. I never saw him say no to anybody on set. He has this beautiful thing where he will take in ideas from anybody. He'll say, you know what I like about what you're saying? And then he'll lead into his vision and he'll take bits of what anybody's idea was and he'll bring it into this new thing. He's like a jazz musician where he has all this preparation that comes into a very improvisational feeling on set where it's terrifying in the beginning because everything may change. I would be in the hair and makeup chair in the morning thinking we're gonna do a scene that I prepared for eight months. And he'd say, "I rewrote the entire scene this morning." And suddenly you're doing a whole new scene. And that's really scary at first, 'cuz you want to hold on to the thing that you have prepared, but it actually is really freeing once you get into the place of just trust. Baz taught me a lot about trust on this. What's your favorite iconic Elvis outfit you got to wear for the film? How did it feel to perform in all that leather? It's, it's hot, but it's really surreal. I can't it's hard to put it into words 'cuz by the time that we shot '68 in the leather, I, I probably watched that footage every day for that year and a half. I not only knew what Elvis did so much but I knew what the audience looked like. I knew what the set looked like and walking out on that stage and seeing the incredible work that everybody had done to make it identical, really was this out of body experience. 'Cuz I'm not seeing myself, I just look down and I see the rings on my fingers and I see the leather on my arms and I was incredibly nervous. But once I got out there, I felt the genuine emotion of these people in the audience. That outfit I think has a, has a really special place in my heart. Ah, what advice did Priscilla Presley give you to play Elvis? So I met Priscilla. Like we, I think it was about a month after I got the part. She just was so ethereal and kind, it was more than advice through words because she did say, "You have big shoes to fill." I said I know. It was more looking into these eyes of this beautiful woman who fell in love with Elvis all those years ago and that he was madly in love with and getting to actually look into this human being's eyes that has gone through all that is just, I can't even put into words how that felt to me. It was so special. Did you learn anything working with Tom Hanks? Not a thing. Nah yeah. I learned so much. Tom's been my hero since I was a child. I can't remember a time in my life where I didn't know who Tom Hanks was. We can talk about what you learned from him as far as acting with him because he's such a master of craft. So there were times where I may imagine him doing a scene one way and he would do something that I never expected. He has been doing this so long. You can imagine somebody becoming jaded after a certain amount of time of doing one job for a long period of time. And he's so the opposite of that, he's so kind and generous and, he just made the set a really fun place for everybody and was incredibly kind. Baz Luhrmann movie gets 12 minute standing ovation at Cannes Film Festival. What about the film do you think resonates with people? Well I mean, first of all I'll just talk about Cannes. That was the most magical night of my life. I hadn't seen the film before and I'd never been to Cannes. I sat down in that theater and I didn't know what I was gonna see. And it was so incredibly magical to be there. My father was there. He'd never been outside the country. It was like, it was the most special night for me. I'm looking down the row and seeing Priscilla and Olivia, and Tom and Baz and everybody else that had worked on the film. And it was just so special. I think for me, it's putting Elvis's life in context. There's so many ideas of Elvis out there and there's also just ideas around any icon that they just kind of came outta nowhere. And getting to see Elvis' story through the lens of Baz. He's created this film that is made for the movie theater, seeing a giant screen with the best sound. People have talked about their world feeling more vibrant after. And I think Elvis lived such an extraordinarily vibrant life that is incredibly inspiring and heartbreaking and everything in between. And yeah, I'm excited for people to get to see it. I hope you all like it. (upbeat music)

Waarom Austin Butler nog steeds spreekt met zijn Elvis-accent

Waarom Austin Butler nog steeds spreekt met zijn Elvis-accent

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