Austin Butler baffled Golden Globes 2023 viewers on Tuesday by speaking in an Elvis-inspired Memphis drawl as he picked up his first gong for his portrayal of the music icon.
The Anaheim-born star, 31, was delighted as he scooped the award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama for his work on 2022 film Elvis – but the focus quickly switched to his incredibly different sounding voice.
As the star began: ‘I just want to thank the Hollywood Foreign Press for this honor’ before praising his ‘mama’, fans clocked he was still speaking in his Elvis-style Memphis drawl from the movie, almost two years after filming had ended.
Sorry, what? Austin Butler baffled Golden Globes 2023 viewers on Tuesday by speaking in an Elvis-inspired Memphis drawl as he picked up his first gong for his portrayal of the music icon
One fan wrote: ‘Austin Butler’s voice is WILD that cannot be real’ while a second typed: ‘When is Austin Butler going to switch his voice back to normal?’
Another penned: ‘Austin Butler still stuck in his Elvis voice’ while one fan wrote: ‘austin butler using this elvis voice for his golden globe win…girl i’m losing my mind and busting out laughing.’
Another wrote: ‘Austin butler is committing to the voice bit until he dies huh i can’t take it’ while one fan wrote: ‘I’m sorry I cannnnotttttt take austin butler seriously with this fake voice sir I watched the carrie diaries wyd.’
More fans wrote: ‘Austin Butler has one more chance to shut the Elvis voice off I swear to god’ while another suggested hiring an exorcist to switch Austin’s vocals: ”Okay now who is gonna award Austin Butler an exorcist to get this Elvis voice outta him.
All shook up? The Anaheim-born star, 31, was delighted as he scooped the award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama for his work on 2022 film Elvis (left in film and Elvis right) – but the focus quickly switched to his incredibly different sounding voice
Singer Bethny Cosentino simply wrote: ‘Does Austin Butler realize he’s from Anaheim?
The star’s husky acceptance speech saw him become visibly emotional as he said: ‘I also want to say to my fellow nominees, you have turned in the most beautiful profound work and I am so honored and proud to be listed among you’
‘I owe this to a bold, visionary filmmaker who allowed me the experience to take risks and I always knew I would be supported. I love you, Baz Luhrmann, thank you for believing in me in those moments that I didn’t even believe in myself.
‘I’m so grateful to you I also want to thank my dance partner, the greatest dance partner I could have ever hoped for, Mr. Tom Hanks thank you. I also got to thank Denzel Washington Denzel, thank you for your kindness thank you for your generosity in championing me when you did not have to.
‘I am so grateful for all eternity to you. I also want to thank our incredible producers and Warner Bros and the Presley family, thank you guys, thank you for opening your hearts, your memories, your home to me. Lisa Marie , Priscilla, I love you forever.
Can’t let it go: As the star began: ‘I just want to thank the Hollywood Foreign Press for this honor’ before praising his ‘mama’, fans clocked that he was still speaking in his Elvis-style Memphis drawl from the film, months after filming had ended’
‘I also want to thank my family, my sister is here with me tonight, Ashley, I love you so much I want to thank my dad who’s watching at home, I want to thank my mom who I know is smiling down right now mama.
‘I love you so much thank you for sacrificing so much for me. And, lastly, Elvis Presley himself, you are an icon and a rebel. And I love you so much. Thank you. You are remembered and I will never forget thank you!
The actor also had a noticeable southern drawl when he was asked on the red carpet about his Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture nomination for his starring role in Elvis.
What? One fan wrote: ‘Austin Butler’s voice is WILD that cannot be real’ while a second typed: ‘When is Austin Butler going to switch his voice back to normal?
‘I feel honoured and privileged to be nominated and to be here with people I admire so much,’ he told Live From E!.
‘I feel very happy with the movie. There’s nobody like director Baz Luhrmann,’ he added.
Butler’s interview whipped social media into a frenzy as fans noticed the Anaheim native was speaking in like Elvis even though production on the film wrapped almost two years ago, in March 2021.
‘Austin, I love you but you have to drop the accent,’ one Twitter user pleaded.
Another tweeted: ‘I am BEGGING Austin to lose the Elvis accent.’
However, one fan jumped to his defence, saying his voice only serves to demonstrate his commitment to his craft.
‘The most Hollywood thing you can do is create an accent and stick to it,’ they said.
Austin was so dedicated to perfecting his role as Elvis in the renowned biopic released last summer that he didn’t see his family for three years as he prepped for the film in Australia.
Production for Elvis was postponed in March 2020 when one of its stars, Tom Hanks, was diagnosed with COVID-19 and hospitalized.
When the pandemic started, the Elvis set was shut down indefinitely.
Butler declined an invitation to be flown back to his home in Los Angeles and instead used the lockdown as an opportunity to immerse himself in all things Elvis.
While speaking to British GQ, Butler said he turned his apartment into a ‘detective scene’ as he studied the real-life character that he would portray.
Pulling a Liam Payne? The singer shocked fans with a ‘bizarre’ Irish-American accent when he was interviewed about the infamous Will Smith slap after the Oscars in March 2022
‘Just images of Elvis everywhere, from every time period,’ he said.
He noted that the pandemic gave him extra time to dig deeply into his role.
‘I think the film would have been very different if we had started shooting at that point, and I’m grateful I had the time to let myself marinate,’ he added.
By the time filming began he felt he had learned everything there was to know about Elvis.
He had dedicated himself to listening exclusively to his music, and reading everything he could find about his life.
Butler told Variety that during this time, not only would Elvis be the ‘only thing’ he ever thought about, he would also speak in his voice because ‘this is what it takes.’
The actor had a southern drawl when he was asked on the red carpet about his Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture nomination for his starring role in Elvis
‘Austin, I love you but you have to drop the accent,’ one Twitter user pleaded
Elvis chronicles the life and career of the late King of Rock and Roll, and Butler has generated Oscar buzz for his portrayal of Presley
He said: ‘During Elvis, I didn’t see my family for about three years. I was off in New York prepping with Baz and then I went to Australia.
‘I had months where I wouldn’t talk to anybody – and when I did, the only thing I was ever thinking about was Elvis.’
He explained, ‘It’s the only thing I was focused on. I was speaking in his voice the whole time, so then I talk to my sister and she’s got to listen to that and she’s like “what are you doing?”
‘So I just had to be focused and yeah. This is what it takes.’
Butler has previously opened up on the effects of playing Elvis, admitting he ‘lost touch’ with his own personality.
He told GQ Magazine: ‘You can lose touch with who you actually are, and I definitely had that when I finished Elvis – not knowing who I was.’
