{"id":23792,"date":"2022-06-08T13:25:20","date_gmt":"2022-06-08T09:25:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/?post_type=articles&p=215757"},"modified":"2022-06-08T13:25:20","modified_gmt":"2022-06-08T09:25:20","slug":"austin-butler-elvis-film-interview","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/articles\/austin-butler-elvis-film-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Austin Butler: \u201cWe Don\u2019t Have Elvis Without Black Music And Black Culture.\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Credit: 2021 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cAre you born with destiny, or does it just come, knocking at your door?\u201d\u00a0<\/em>Indeed Colonel Tom Parker, the infamous money-hungry manager of Elvis Presley believed in destiny, that he, and he alone was meant to the lead the King of Rock to eternity. I pose this question, the existence of a so-called destiny or fate to Austin Butler<\/a> from a hotel room in Sydney, Australia. In his deep native Anaheim accent, without breaking eye contact, he is swift to answer. \u201cI think so,\u201d he responds.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you look back in retrospect at your life and you see how things connect\u2026 I think so,\u201d Butler adds. The actor was in his Los Angeles home tapping the keys of the piano and singing an Elvis tune when his friend had told him, in a nonchalant way, that he should one day play the King of Rock. Just two days later, Butler received a call from his agent about the opportunity to star in an upcoming Baz Luhrmann film.<\/p>\n

\"Elvis
Credit: 2021 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Butler admits that his knowledge of Presley was \u201cperipheral\u201d before he happened upon the role. Like much of the globe, the actor knew of Presley\u2019s roster of hit music and classic films. It wasn\u2019t until he discovered the context surrounding his childhood \u2013 a poor child growing up in a largely Black neighbourhood in Memphis, Tennessee \u2013 and the singer\u2019s relationship to his mother that Butler was enthralled by the story. In short, the actor says, \u201cWe don\u2019t have Elvis without Black music and Black culture.\u201d<\/p>\n

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