Austin Butler Is Elvis: What to Know About the Young Actor Embodying the Icon
Austin Butler is the new king of rock and roll.
The young actor is set to play the late Elvis Presley, who earned the title through his skyrocketing fame in the ’50s. Butler, 27, was cast as the icon in Baz Luhrmann’s upcoming film, also starring Tom Hanks as the rocker’s longtime manager.
RELATED: Meet Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis Presley! Actor Austin Butler Cast as Legendary Singer in Biopic
Butler, who is naturally blonde and recently dyed his hair black for the role, is an actor on the rise who will soon be seen opposite Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. He’s currently starring in The Dead Don’t Die, opposite Bill Murray and Selena Gomez, which is now in theaters.
Read on for more about the young star.
He’s been dating Vanessa Hudgens since 2011
Butler has been at the arm of Hudgens, 30, for the better part of the last decade. The two were first linked romantically in 2011 and often post about each other on social media.
Hudgens even reacted to the news of his casting first, posting a sweet congratulations to her “honey” on Instagram.
“I AMMMM OVERRRR THE F—— MOOOOOOOOONNNNN. I CANT WAIT 😍😍😍😍😍😍 SO PROUD OF MY HONEYYYYY!!!” Hudgens wrote.
Well a day late but happy #internationalkissingday 😝❤️💋
A post shared by Vanessa Hudgens (@vanessahudgens) on Jul 7, 2019 at 2:59pm PDT
He’s had a string of TV hits
After getting his start as a background actor in Nickelodeon’s Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide, Butler went on to appear in several Disney Channel and Nickelodeon shows.
Two of his most memorable roles as a young actor include playing the love interest in both Hannah Montana and Zoey 101. Butler played Jake opposite Miley Cyrus in the Disney show. He later romances Jamie-Lynn Spears on her Nickelodeon show as James.
Butler was later tapped for the CW’s Sex and the City prequel The Carrie Diaries, where he once again played love interest to AnnaSophia Robb’s Carrie Bradshaw. The show followed Carrie in high school and lasted two seasons.
The actor most recently starred as Wil Ohmsford in MTV’s The Shannara Chronicles from 2016 to 2018.
He turned heads on Broadway
Part of what helped Butler get cast as Elvis is his recent turn on Broadway, where he shined on stage. Butler played a main role in the Eugene O’Neill play The Iceman Cometh.
“I had heard about Austin Butler from his standout role opposite Denzel Washington in The Iceman Cometh��on Broadway, and through a journey of extensive screen testing and music and performance workshops, I knew unequivocally that I had found someone who could embody the spirit of one of the world’s most iconic musical figures,” Luhrmann said in a statement.
The biopic begins shooting next year in Australia.
