February 17, 2023
Austin Butler revealed he went to extreme lengths for his role as Elvis Presley in the biopic of the rock 'n' roll legend, which has earned him an Oscar nomination.
The Elvis star, 31, in an interview with Variety, explained that he learned a tip from a fellow Hollywood star Ryan Gosling to gain weight to play the music icon in Baz Luhrmann’s film.
“I heard that Ryan Gosling when he was going to do ‘The Lovely Bones,’ had microwaved Häagen-Dazs and would drink it,” Butler stated.
“So I started doing that. I would go get two dozen doughnuts and eat them all. I really started to pack on some pounds. It’s fun for a week, and then you feel awful about yourself,” the actor further shared.
Butler further shared, “But we were planning on shooting chronologically in the beginning. That quickly went out the window with COVID. It was just impossible.”
Butler received a Golden Globe award for his outstanding performance in the biopic.