That was the test that I saw in front of me,” said Butler, who likened it to being a detective, piecing together a psychological profile with what clues he could find. “How do you take Elvis, who’s seen as this icon or this caricature, strip all that away and find out who he really was as a man?” Diving into the research That was the test that I saw in front of me: How do you take Elvis ... and find out who he really was as a man? I wanted to feel what he was feeling, and he wasn’t looking at himself. He was looking at Little Richard. He was looking at Howlin’ Wolf and Big Mama Thornton and all those incredible artists down on Beale Street,” Butler said. “You’ll see a move that Little Richard does and you go, ‘That’s how Elvis moved. Is that where he got that?’ Elvis was kind of a magpie where he pulled things from a lot of different places.” ‘She loved him so much’ Per the official Sony 3000 Pictures synopsis, the original trilogy of books focuses on two criminal empires — one Irish, the other Italian — that control all of New England, until a modern-day Helen of Troy tears them apart and starts a brutal war. The main character, Danny Ryan, is forced to grow from a street soldier into a ruthlessly efficient leader to protect his friends, his family and the home he loves. Fighting the Mafia, the local cops, the feds – everyone – Danny builds a dynasty or will die trying. Callum Turner, Anthony Boyle, Ben Radcliffe, Edward Ashley, and James Murray are among the ensemble cast for the WWII-set series which is being produced in part with Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Television banner, along with Hanks’ Playtone. Consider it the third part of a trilogy with “Band of Brothers” and “The Pacific.”

At some point in the future, Butler would like to move behind the camera and make movies like Tarantino, Luhrmann and Paul Thomas Anderson, writer-directors he admires. “I love filmmaking,” he said. “I don’t know what else I would do with my life. I’m not ready yet, but there will come a day.” Ahead of the Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Gala, Austin sat down for an interview with Entertainment Tonightto talk about the upcoming Golden Globes award ceremony, which takes place on January 10. When asked about who he'd be bringing to the prestigious ceremony, Austin replied, "I'm going to bring my sister."Reports that Vanessa Hudgens and Austin Butler had split emerged in January 2020, with the news following a long social media silence, and coming after the couple spent the holidays apart. Months of rehearsals led to the start of production in Australia in January 2020. Butler worked with voice and movement coaches to organically channel Presley whenever Luhrmann wanted to “unleash” Butler to improvise in character. That March, Hanks and wife Rita Wilson became the first Hollywood stars to announce they’d tested positive for COVID-19, and the “Elvis” production was shut down. This Is A Life from Everything Everywhere All at Once, Music by Ryan Lott, David Byrne and Mitski; Lyric by Ryan Lott and David Byrne Now, as Butler’s turn as Elvis Presley has earned him Academy Awards attention, it’s clear that Butler can do anything he wants next. With “Dune: Part Two” and historical epic “Masters of the Air” in the works, Butler has a “Little Less Conversation” and a whole lot more acting up ahead. With ‘Elvis,’ I definitely had an existential crisis when I finished. I didn’t do anything that was grounded in Austin for that time. I didn’t talk to my family or my friends or anybody,” Butler told IndieWire. “I would talk to them every couple months or something, but I really did lose touch with me. But I also learned things about myself — that’s a beautiful gift. It’s a confusing part about being an actor.”

When Luhrmann watched the submission from Butler, a young actor he didn’t know anything about, “it didn’t feel like an audition,” said the Oscar-nominated “Moulin Rouge!” director. “It felt like a spycam.”He summed up, “I was doing these TV shows that were really fun, and some people really dug them. But I didn’t feel fulfilled as an artist. I just wasn’t being challenged in the way that I wanted to.” Adapted from Danny Lyon’s book, “The Bikeriders” follows the rise and fall of a fictional 1960s motorcycle club in the Midwest. Michael Shannon, Mike Faist and Norman Reedus round out the ensemble. Butler appeared in The CW show “Arrow” and horror film “The Intruders” before landing his final tween series “The Shannara Chronicles,” based on fantasy author Terry Brooks’ novels. Filmed in New Zealand, the MTV show began production shortly after Butler’s mother died of cancer in 2014. While both Hudgens and Butler remained tight-lipped about the split, sources close to them revealed to E! News that the reason was "a matter of distance" and due to conflicting work schedules. Hudgens was working on The Princess Switch: Switched Again and Butler was filming for Elvis. It started that day with Elvis’ entire discography, which Butler put on shortly after getting the call, as he painted and plastered the old house he was living in. He devoured every Elvis documentary, every film, every YouTube fan video he could find. At first, he tried recording himself singing Elvis’ 1956 ballad “Love Me Tender,” but “it looked like an impersonation,” he said, sipping an iced coffee last month at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, “and I thought, ‘I can’t send this.’”