Austin Butler has thanked his Elvis co-star Tom Hanks for saving him from a deep depression.
The 30-year-old actor plays the King of Rick & Roll in Baz Luhrmann’s lavish new biopic about the singer who lived from 1935 until 1977.
Fellow actor Tom, 65, plays Elvis’s manager Colonel Tom Parker in the new flick – with the relationship between Elvis and Tom explored as a key theme in the big budget film.
Austin has admitted he loved every minute of starring in the film – which is out in cinemas later this month – but was crushed when he realised his time on set was over.
According to The Sun on Sunday, Austin says he suffered a “huge decompression” and was “at a loss” after portraying Elvis – with the biopic filming between January 2020 and March 2021.
But Oscar winning legend Tom advised Austin to go straight into another project to avoid succumbing to the blues.
Austin told the publication: “So I flew to London and started filming. It was great advice from Tom. Without it, I could have gone into a depression.”
Last month, Austin recalled being struck down with a debilitating illness after he completed filming on biopic.
He told American GQ: “The next day [after filming wrapped] I woke up at four in the morning with excruciating pain, and I was rushed to hospital.
“My body just started shutting down the day after I finished ‘Elvis.’”
GQ’s report also explained how Austin immersed himself in Elvis’s life and history when filming on the project was shut down in March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to the report: “The producers were ready to whisk Butler home to Los Angeles, but he decided to stay put and hole up and use the break to dig even deeper into his character.
“He basically turned his apartment into a detective scene, à la Charlie in ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ unearthing a vast mail-room conspiracy.”
While Austin recalled: “Just images of Elvis everywhere, from every time period. 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.'”
The film had it’s world premiere last month at the Cannes Film Festival – with Austin being lavished with praise over his performance.
Deadline branded the actor an “Ideal choice” for the part and gushed: “he thrillingly succeeds, especially in the film's first half, with an authentic rhythm that makes us wonder what greater heights Elvis could have climbed had he not succumbed to the dark side of his own fame."
While the LA Times praised Austin’s performance as "a decent physical match for Elvis and a better one vocally.”
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