Austin Butler
Credit: Rosalind OConnor/NBC via Getty Images

Following his captivating performance in the Baz Luhrmann epic ELVIS, Austin Butler has gone on to earn a Golden Globe nomination and make his debut on Saturday Night Live, a show he says he used to watch with his mother. At the weekend the actor took the opportunity within his opening monologue to address discourse that his voice has changed after his role as Elvis Presley.

“There are people out there who say that ever since I played Elvis my voice has changed,” he told the audience. “That it got deeper, more Elvis-y. But that’s not true. I’ve always sounded like this and I can prove it. Here’s an interview that I did 10 years ago.”

A clip was then revealed of a young Butler on the red carpet for his breakout performance as Sebastian in The Carrie Diaries. In poking fun at his accent the video was dubbed so he spoke in a high-pitched voice. It garnered plenty of laughs from the audience before the 31-year-old changed the subject.

ELVIS was in the early stages of production in 2020 when the pandemic forced much of the world to shut down. The actor spent lockdown alone studying and perfecting the accent of Presley, a form of method acting which saw Butler isolate himself from family and friends.

Credit: 2021 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc

Speaking to GRAZIA prior to the film’s release, Butler said the process provided an “energy” to allow him to work harder than he ever has.

“What I learnt is that I feel fear every day,” he said. “But, fear is essentially energy and it wakes me up every day at three or four in the morning for two years while making the movie, so it allowed me to think, ‘Well, I’m awake, I may as well read an Elvis interview, watch something or get to work.'”

Butler closed his opening monologue by paying tribute to his late mother through tears. Watch the whole clip below.