Austin Butler perfectly performs The King's "That's All Right (Mama)" in a brilliant pre-production video test for Elvis. Butler plays Elvis Presley in director Baz Luhrmann's biopic about the famed rock and roll star who left behind a legacy of hits that are still celebrated today. Joining Butler in the film is Tom Hanks, who plays Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis's controversial manager throughout the artist's career. Also appearing in the film is Stranger Things' Dacre Montgomery, Luke Bracey, Kodi Smit-McPhee, David Wenham, and Richard Roxburgh.
Elvis took over two years to make due to pandemic delays, but Butler had begun voice coaching a year prior to the start of filming. The actor has said that he felt a responsibility to Elvis and his family to get the performance right, which included the singing. The actor also studied tapes of Presley to get his mannerisms and stage presence right. Butler's commitment to the role is admirable, especially as he beat out other contenders like Harry Styles, Ansel Elgort, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson.
In a new video shared by actress Riley Keough (Elvis' granddaughter), Butler is seen in a pre-production camera test where he performs Elvis' "That's All Right (Mama)" to perfection. The song is the debut single recorded and released by Elvis (written and originally performed by Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup). The vocals are by Butler, which Keough cites as one of the most remarkable parts of Elvis, saying that "what [Butler] was able to do is just so beautiful." Take a look at the video below:
Keough has starred in a number of Hollywood projects herself, following in the footsteps of her grandfather and grandmother (actress Priscilla Presley). She has starred in films like Mad Max: Fury Road, Logan Lucky, and Zola, while also appearing in shows like The Girlfriend Experience and the upcoming Prime Video series The Terminal List with Chris Pratt. Keough saw an early screening of Elvis, saying that the film was an "emotional experience" while lauding Butler's performance as her late grandfather.
When portraying an iconic musician the stakes are always high. With already-established fanbases, there's a lot of pressure to do their stories justice. Many actors have thrived in biopics about musicians, such as Jamie Foxx in Ray, Joaquin Phoenix in Walk The Line, Rami Malek in Bohemian Rhapsody, and Chadwick Boseman in Get On Up, among many others. Butler seems to have taken a page from the same book as those actors in terms of fully immersing himself in the role of Elvis Presley for Elvis and so far it seems to have paid off.
Source: Riley Keough
