Austin Butler to star as Elvis in Baz Luhrmann-helmed biopic
This combination photo shows singer-actor Elvis Presley in a 1964 photo, left, and actor Austin Butler at the premiere of "The Dead Don't Die" in New York on June 10, 2019. Butler has been cast to portray Presley in the upcoming biopic by director Baz Luhrmann. Production is to begin early next year. Tom Hanks co-stars as Presley’s manager Colonel Tom Parker. (AP Photo)
NEW YORK (AP) — Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis Presley biopic has found its King.
After a competitive casting contest, 27-year-old actor Austin Butler has been cast as Presley. Ansel Elgort, Harry Styles and Miles Teller all reportedly tested for the role ultimately won by Butler, who last year appeared in the Denzel Washington Broadway revival of “The Iceman Cometh.”
Luhrmann says in a statement that 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.”
Butler also has a role in Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood.”