Denzel Washington Was Totally Responsible For Casting Major Elvis In Baz Luhrmann’s New Movie (And No, Not Tom Hanks)
Taking on the life of Elvis Presley, the King of Rock and Roll, is a huge undertaking. Fortunately, Baz Luhrmann’s upcoming movie about the music icon struck the right note with Austin Bulter as the King as seen in the explosive Elvis trailer, which also stars Tom Hanks as Colonel Tom Parker. Here’s a fun trivia fact about Butler’s involvement: Luhrmann has revealed that it was two-time Oscar winner Denzel Washington who was entirely responsible for the young actor being cast as Elvis.
Denzel Washington hasn’t been afraid to support actors when the time comes. The Oscar-winning talent has proven more than once that he can spot great talent, as evidenced by his work as a director. During the casting process to find the right Elvis, Baz Luhrmann revealed that it was Washington who vouched for Austin Butler after co-starring with him in the play. the ice man is coming in 2018. The Moulin Rogue the director spilled how the equalizer star sealed the deal for Butler:
And then I got a call from Denzel Washington, who cold called me. I didn’t know Denzel. And he said, ‘I just worked with this guy on stage. I have never seen a work ethic like this. And I’m like, ‘OK, I have to see it.’
there he goes Macbeth actor using his pull to give an up-and-coming actor an advantage. He wasn’t afraid to give the director his two cents for Austin Butler. Having watched the actor closely, he was the right source to push Baz Luhrmann in the right direction.
The author spilled how intense is the Elvis The casting process was to find the right actor before Austin Butler was selected to play the influential musician. He did workshops just to differentiate between impersonation and channeling the real person. According to IndieWire once upon a time in hollywood actor was on the celebrity director’s radar before his co-signer of the Training Day actor. BazLuhrmann said:
[Austin Butler] found me. I got this videotape of this young man in tears playing ‘Unchained Melody,’ and I thought, ‘Wow, what is that? How is that happening?
Of course, he was mesmerized enough by the former child star’s audition to cast him as Elvis Presley. After Butler scored the part, Luhrmann admitted that he put the actor through the gamut filming the biopic, including a shutdown due to Tom Hanks’ COVID diagnosis. The filmmaker continued:
Honestly, I put him to the test, but he lived like Elvis. What he has achieved is not impersonating Elvis, but rather living Elvis, to the extent that he has humanized him.
Thankfully, all of those tests paid off for a better performance from Austin Butler, and audiences could be in for a worthwhile musical biopic later this year. Butler’s performance has already received significant praise from Elvis Presley’s ex-wife, Priscilla. Of course, Baz Luhrmann has a musical pedigree with projects like the Oscar-winning Moulin Rouge and those of netflix the go downso the movie sounds like it’s in the right hands. Elvis will follow the life of the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer from the beginning of his career to his days in Las Vegas in the 1970s. Each phase of his life will be covered through three arcs, according to Luhrmann.
Hopefully, the musical biopic will break the curse that many musical movies have suffered in recent years. The genre has gone through mixed times, ranging from cultural phenomena (Charm, A star has been born, Bohemian Rhapsody), dear critics (West Side Story, in the heights) and gluttons for punishment (cats, Cinderella, Dear Evan Hansen). Hopefully this new movie will strike a good balance between acclaim and commercial appeal. Elvis It will be released in theaters on June 25. In the meantime, there are plenty of other upcoming movies coming in 2022 alongside the musical biopic.