Why Austin Butler Is Still Speaking with His Elvis Accent
Austin Butler spent three years away from his family shooting Elvis—and whenever he speaks publicly now, be it at the Golden Globes or elsewhere, you can still hear the King of Rock in his voice.
Before making the biopic, his voice sounded less deep, raspy, and didn’t have a Southern accent. But that’s clearly changed since filming.
Butler addressed speculation that his voice has shifted for good while speaking to ELLE Australia in June. He says it’s in part a reaction to speaking in public.
“I hear that a lot,” he started with a laugh, “but I didn’t do anything else for two years [apart from working on Elvis], that’s such a large chunk of life. I’m not surprised that it clicks in.”
Butler added that he had a new realization about why his accent shifts between Elvis’ and his natural voice: “Because I’m a shy person, and when I know that there’s bits of Elvis that I’d have to click into in order to go out on stage and be in front of a ton of people, being surrounded by his name everywhere, there’s triggers. You spend so much time obsessing about one thing, and it really is like muscular habits, your mouth can change. Its pretty amazing. I know that I’m constantly changing. Check in with me in 20 years when I’ve played a lot of roles, who knows what I’ll sound like!”
Butler later poked fun at speculation that his voice changed while hosting Saturday Night Live in December. “There’s people out there who say that ever since I played Elvis, my voice has changed,” Butler said. “That it got deeper, more Elvis-y. But that’s not true. I’ve always sounded like this, and I can prove it.” The clip shown didn’t exactly prove it:
Here’s what Butler sounded like five years ago while he was at New York City Comic Con, for reference, before he worked on Elvis:
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And here’s how he sounded during his Golden Globes acceptance speech. Truly a big difference:
Senior News and Strategy Editor
Alyssa Bailey is the senior news and strategy editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage of celebrities and royals (particularly Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton). She previously held positions at InStyle and Cosmopolitan. When she’s not working, she loves running around Central Park, making people take #ootd pics of her, and exploring New York City.
