Elvis Star Austin Butler Claims He's "Getting Rid of the Accent"

Austin Butler recently became a first-time Academy Award nominee for playing the titular role in Baz Luhrmann's Elvis, and the Internet has become very amused by the fact that the actor seems to have kept the iconic singer's accent. Butler recently won a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama and fans were surprised by his voice. Butler put a lot of time into the role and recently claimed he didn't see his family for three years while working on the film, so it's no surprise it's consumed him as much as it has. However, the actor recently appeared on the Graham Norton Show and revealed he's working on ridding himself of Elvis' voice. 

"I am getting rid of the accent, but I have probably damaged my vocal cords with all that singing," Butler shared. "One song took 40 takes." 

Currently, Butler is making Dune: Part Two, and his co-star Dave Bautista recently assured fans that he doesn't have the Elvis voice in the movie. "He's just the sweetest guy you'll ever meet," Bautista told USA Today. "I don't know who this guy was, but it's not Austin Butler. It's not Elvis. His voice is different, his look is different. Everything about his demeanor is terrifying."

Who Is Austin Butler Playing in Dune: Part Two? 

Austin Butler will be playing Feyd-Rautha in Dune: Part Two, the favored nephew of Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgard), leader of the rival house to House Atreides. In the books, he is more cunning than his brutish brother, "Beast" Rabban (Dave Bautista), and he ultimately becomes the primary antagonist to Paul Atreides, who will once again be played by Timothée Chalamet. In a recent interview with Backstage, Butler spoke about the narrative approach to his iconic villain and teased that he thinks he's in the right.

"[We] really try to dig into the humanity of [the character]. It's that thing of the bad guy in the world doesn't feel like he's the bad guy," Butler explained. "He feels like he's the hero of his own story. And that can be a hard thing with certain characters; with others, it's easier, but you have to not judge the character, and you have to find a way to feel the motivation towards anyone of your actions. So, we had a lot of conversations and crafted that together."

"Denis is so thoughtful, he doesn't miss anything, and his attention to detail is remarkable," he said. "Denis is amazing; he's such an incredible director. The energy on his sets is amazing, everyone trusts him so much, and it's such a well-oiled machine, and he's a master of the craft."

Dune: Part 2 is currently scheduled to be released on November 3rd.