Austin Butler and His Rise to Elvis

Austin Butler is living the child-actor dream with his new Oscar-worthy role. The early Disney Channel and Nickelodeon star just gave the performance of a lifetime in his embodiment of Elvis Presley. Learn more about Butler’s career and the highlights that led him to where he is now.

You may recognize Austin Butler from his many guest appearances on shows such as ​Hannah Montana​ and ​Zoey 101​. These opportunities did not serve as career-changing roles for him, but rather stepping stones to landing his big screen characters. During Butler’s Vogue interview in April of 2022, he shared that he felt “embarrassed of some of the things he had to do–but he had to cut his teeth somewhere.” The actor can also be recognized in popular television shows such as CSI: Miami, CSI: New York, the Carrie Diaries, and Switched at Birth.

Butler hit the big stage in 2018. He landed the role of Don Parritt in ​The Iceman Cometh​ written by Eugene O’Neill. This role propelled Austin’s acting career forward, as this was a role of his unlike any other. Coming off of short period boyfriend roles, this troubled 18-year-old persona was a new aesthetic for him to embody. Ultimately, he received great praise from this experience, and was seen in a new light as an actor.

Ex-girlfriend of Austin Butler, Vanessa Hudgens, knew he would play Elvis one day. In August of 2019, Hudgens co-hosted Live! With Kelly & Ryan. She shared that one day, the couple was driving when an Elvis Presley Christmas song came on. As Butler was singing along with his newly dyed darker hair, Vanessa turned to him and said, “Babe, you need to play Elvis. I don’t know how, but I’m serious–you need to play him.” She then shared that a month later he received a call saying Baz Luhrmann was in search of the perfect person to cast as Elvis, and she knew this was his calling.

Post-Elvis career opportunities are looking good for Austin Butler. The actor was casted for the film ​Dune: Part 2​, where he will co-star with household names such as Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya, Florence Pugh, and Christopher Walken. His character in the film is Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, who is set to be cruel, treacherous and cunning. Due to his outstanding performance as Elvis Presley, Austin Butler just might become the next big household name himself.

Partially, but some songs are blended with Presley’s original vocals.

Butler has been in a relationship with Kaia Gerber since December of 2021.

He is 6’0”.

He was born August 17th which makes him a Leo.