After casting Austin Butler for the main role in the upcoming ELVIS movie, director Baz Luhrmann is sharing insight as to why the part wasn’t given to fan-favorite, Harry Styles.
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“Harry is really talented actor,” Luhrmann shared during an appearance on Fitzy & Wippa when asked about Styles and other lead-hopeful, Miles Teller. “I would work on something with him.”
He continued, “The real issue with Harry is, he’s Harry Styles. He’s already an icon… I think Harry and I came to a place, genuinely I mean, he was just desperate to put the suit on and explore… He’s such a great spirit and I have nothing but great things to say about Harry Styles.”
Luhrmann continued on to explain Butler’s life-resemblance to The King also helped him stand out throughout the audition process.
“The thing about Aust[in] was that he will tell you himself, I didn’t pick him it’s as if he was drawn like to play the role… he was almost born to play it,” he shared.
“You know, we can talk about it now, he like loses his mom at the same age that Elvis did… He just happened. Like two years non-stop living and breathing as Elvis. He’s now going through a sort of like deprogramming thing because he’s been a long time since he’s known who he was.”
ELVIS is a long-awaited biopic from Luhrmann, and will release June 24. Joining Butler is a star-studded cast including Olivia DeJonge as Priscilla Presley, and Tom Hanks as Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis’ manager.
If you want to hear more music from Elvis Presley and the artists that he influenced, be sure to check out Audacy stations like Elvis Presley Radio, The 50s, The 60s, and other great stations today!
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