When Austin Butler was cast as Elvis Presley in Baz Luhrmann’s 2022 biopic Elvis, most people expected a performance. What they got was a possession.

What began as a role became a reckoning—a journey that blurred the lines between art and identity, performance and spiritual awakening. Behind the rhinestone jumpsuits and curled lip, Butler found a man grieving, lost, isolated, and still, somehow, larger than life. The transformation was so total, so consuming, that even Elvis’s own family—Priscilla and Lisa Marie Presley—felt like they were watching the King come back to life.

This wasn’t acting. It was alchemy.

💔 The Grief That Bound Them

Austin Butler lost his mother in 2014. Elvis Presley lost his own beloved mother, Gladys, in 1958. The uncanny parallel became the emotional anchor that Butler would use to ground his portrayal.

“When I found out that Elvis lost his mom at the same age I lost mine,” Butler recalled, “I just got chills. I knew there was something in that grief we both understood. It became my doorway into his soul.”

This grief, raw and personal, let Butler access a deeply human side of Elvis—a man torn between fame and loneliness, public image and private sorrow.

🎙️ From Actor to Vessel

Butler didn’t just study Elvis—he lived him. For over two years, he embodied the voice, posture, swagger, and stillness of the King.

“I didn’t see my own reflection anymore,” he said. “It was always Elvis’s voice in my head. I couldn’t shake him.”

From speech patterns to breathing rhythms, Butler transformed until even his friends admitted they no longer recognized his voice. His physical mannerisms—each twitch, each gesture—were carefully sculpted through long hours of rehearsal and spiritual immersion.

Butler’s coaches and castmates watched with awe as his voice deepened into a Memphis drawl. He’d wake up speaking like Elvis. He’d dream as Elvis. And in the film’s gospel scenes—shot in a church filled with real choir members—Butler broke down in tears mid-song.

“That moment was something else,” he shared. “I felt like Elvis was in the room.”

👑 The Presley Seal of Approval

When Elvis premiered, the stakes were sky-high. The world was watching—but more importantly, so were Priscilla Presley and Lisa Marie Presley.

Lisa Marie, notoriously protective of her father’s legacy, emerged from the screening in tears. In a rare public statement, she said:

“Austin Butler channeled my father’s heart and soul. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Priscilla echoed the sentiment, saying that Butler captured Elvis’s rage, vulnerability, humor, and depth in a way no other portrayal ever had.

To make it even more personal, Lisa Marie gave Butler a private tour of Graceland, letting him see Elvis’s slippers—small, intimate symbols of the man behind the legend. It was a moment Butler called “one of the most spiritual experiences of my life.”

Their bond deepened in the weeks leading to the 2023 Golden Globes. Lisa Marie stood by Butler’s side as he accepted Best Actor, eyes brimming with tears.
Four days later, she was gone.

🕊️ Aftermath: Haunted, Changed, and Grateful

Lisa Marie Presley’s sudden death in January 2023 left Butler shattered.

“My heart is completely broken,” he said in a tribute. “I am forever grateful for the time I had with her.”

In the months that followed, Butler described feeling “haunted by the experience.” After filming wrapped, he fell seriously ill, his body seemingly rejecting the weight of carrying Elvis for so long.

But something else remained—an internal shift. The role had liberated him, cracked something open inside. He later admitted:

“Elvis gave me permission to be larger than life, to live bigger, and to be okay with stillness too.”

🎧 More Than a Role—A Rebirth

Austin Butler didn’t just resurrect Elvis for the screen. He resurrected a feeling—the ache of an American icon, the charisma, the contradictions, and the tragic brilliance of a man who changed the world with a song and a shake.

The performance earned him awards, critical acclaim, and an Oscar nomination. But more than that, it gave him a new compass. Elvis didn’t just change his career—he changed his soul.