Austin Butler Is ‘Getting Rid of‘ His ’Elvis’ Accent – Billboard

A team o’ wild horses couldn’t tear Austin Butler and his Elvis accent apart — until now. A distinct Tennessee drawl has been stuck like glue on the 31-year-old actor’s voice ever since he played The King in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis biopic, something that fans have poked fun at him for in recent months. But in a new appearance on The Graham Norton Show, Butler said that he’s finally working to drop the accent for good.

“I am getting rid of the accent,” he said on the show, which airs Friday night (Feb. 3). “But I have probably damaged my vocal cords with all that singing. One song took 40 takes.”

His Dune 2 co-star David Bautista said the star’s accent’s pretty much already gone. “I don’t know who this guy was, but it’s not Austin Butler,” he told USA Today of the actor, who will play his character Rabban’s brother Feyd-Rautha. “It’s not Elvis. His voice is different, his look is different.”

The Carrie Diaries alum has earned almost universal acclaim for his big screen portrayal of Elvis Presley, for which he spent years learning to sing, dance, talk and even laugh exactly like the late rock n’ roll legend. In January, Butler won best actor in a motion picture, drama for his performance, and he’s up for best actor at this year’s Oscars.

This isn’t the first time Butler has addressed Elvis’ lingering effect on his voice. He joked about it in his opening monologue while hosting Saturday Night Live in December, and in interviews since the film came out, he’s chalked the change up to the intensive preparations he underwent to transform into Presley while shooting Elvis.

“I don’t think I sound like him still,” he said in the Golden Globes press room after winning his award. “But I guess I must because I hear it a lot. I often liken it to when somebody lives in another country for a long time. I had three years where that was my only focus in life, so I’m sure there’s just pieces of my DNA that will always be linked to him.”

Butler’s interview on The Graham Norton Show airs tonight on BBC1.