{"id":33564,"date":"2023-03-13T09:06:25","date_gmt":"2023-03-13T05:06:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/?post_type=articles&p=229626"},"modified":"2023-03-13T09:06:25","modified_gmt":"2023-03-13T05:06:25","slug":"austin-butler-oscars","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/articles\/austin-butler-oscars\/","title":{"rendered":"Oscars 2023: The Pelvis-Swivelling Austin Butler Is In The Building"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Austin
HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 12: Austin Butler attends the 95th Annual Academy Awards on March 12, 2023 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Mike Coppola\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Austin Butler<\/a> and his locomotive hips have arrived at the 2023 Academy Awards<\/a>. After his Golden Globes Best Actor win<\/a> last month (with his girlfriend Kaia Gerber by his side<\/a>), Butler, in a Saint Laurent<\/a> tuxedo and Cartier<\/a> jewels (and with flip top hair), is looking to take home the Oscar for Best Actor this evening for his role as Elvis Presley in Baz Luhrmann\u2019s spangly biopic Elvis<\/em>.<\/a><\/p>\n

The epic, 159-minute biopic (complete with frenetic montages and retro animations) traces the King\u2019s rise to fame in the 50s, his marriage to Priscilla (played by Australia\u2019s Olivia DeJonge<\/a>) and his very complex relationship with his manager Colonel Tom Parker (played by Tom Hanks).<\/p>\n

\u201cI basically put the rest of my life on hold for two years. I just went down the road of obsession,\u201d Butler, in a deep voice, tells a packed-out press room at the Cannes Film Festival in May<\/a>. \u201cI would watch one second of a clip over and over and over and look at what his eyes were doing, what his hands were doing and practise that until it was in my marrow. The reason why he moved in that way and why he spoke in that way \u2013 that meant farming his inner being.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Butler wins tonight, he will be the first actor born after 1990 to receive a Best Actor award.<\/p>\n

\"Austin
HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 12: Austin Butler attends the 95th Annual Academy Awards on March 12, 2023 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Arturo Holmes\/Getty Images ) Austin wears Saint Laurent tuxedo,<\/em> Panth\u00e8re de Cartier bracelet, 18k yellow gold onyx, tsavorite garnets – CRB6067200 <\/span><\/i>Panth\u00e8re de Cartier ring, 18k yellow gold, onyx, tsavorite garnets – CRB4085900 <\/span><\/i>Cartier Collection ring, 2004, 18k yellow gold, steel – ST-RG 90 A2004<\/span><\/i><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Austin
HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 12: Austin Butler attends the 95th Annual Academy Awards on March 12, 2023 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Mike Coppola\/Getty Images) Austin wears Saint Laurent tuxedo,<\/em> Panth\u00e8re de Cartier bracelet, 18k yellow gold onyx, tsavorite garnets – CRB6067200 <\/span><\/i>Panth\u00e8re de Cartier ring, 18k yellow gold, onyx, tsavorite garnets – CRB4085900 <\/span><\/i>Cartier Collection ring, 2004, 18k yellow gold, steel – ST-RG 90 A2004<\/span><\/i><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The 31-year-old actor received his Oscar nomination just days after Elvis\u2019 daughter\u2019s untimely death.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is that thing where I wish Lisa Marie was here right now to get to be a part of it and celebrate this,\u201d Butler told the New York Times<\/a>.<\/em> \u201cIt definitely has filled me with a lot of appreciation for every moment that I got to spend with her. And just how lucky I was to get the type of experiences that I had with her, very private moments and that sort of thing, that I\u2019ll just cherish for the rest of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Austin
HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 21: (L-R) Steve Binder, Harper Vivienne Ann Lockwood, Lisa Marie Presley, Baz Luhrmann, Priscilla Presley, Riley Keough, Austin Butler, and Finley Aaron Love Lockwood attend the Handprint Ceremony honoring Priscilla Presley, Lisa Marie Presley And Riley Keough at TCL Chinese Theatre on June 21, 2022 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From the get go, Luhrmann made it known he didn\u2019t care about any other film review aside from Priscilla\u2019s. Butler was with Luhrmann at the same time Priscilla was watching the film the first time, a three-hour wait he describes as “anxious”. As Priscilla exited the theatre, Luhrmann caught word that she was crying.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought, \u2018Oh no, what have we done?\u2019\u201d Luhrmann told the press in Cannes, his head in his hands as he re-lived the moment.<\/p>\n

Soon after, he received a text message from Priscilla.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe said, \u2018I just wasn\u2019t ready for that\u2019,\u201d recalls Luhrmann. \u201c\u2019Every breath of Austin\u2019s, every move, the spirit, the humanity, the man \u2013 not the icon, not the guy in the trashy suit \u2013 if my husband was here today, he would look at [Austin] and say \u2018Hot damn, you are me.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo critic, no review, is ever going to mean more to us than the woman who was married to Elvis Presley.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meet me back here to see if Butler can bring home the Best Actor Academy Award \u2013 and more importantly: Will he accept the award in Elvis\u2019 Southern drawl?<\/a><\/p>\n