Although Austin Butler and Tom Hanks have both been recognized for their performances in “Elvis” during award season, the actors bonded over their fear to take on the iconic roles of the dynamic duo- legendary musician Elvis Presley (Butler) and his manager Colonel Tom Parker (Hanks).
While appearing on “The Graham Norton Show”, Butler recalled meeting Hanks, whom he called a “legend,” for the first time.
“Whenever you meet somebody that you admired for a long time you hope that they’re going to be warm to you,” Butler said, “but you never really know.”
“And somebody like Tom, he’s been doing this for so long and he’s such a master of his craft and so I was intimidated,” the actor continued.
Fortunately for Butler there was nothing to be worried about.
As the former Disney star walked into their director Baz Luhrmann’s house in Australia at the time, he recalled: “Tom turns around and sees me and goes, ‘My boy! Give me a hug,’ and he gives me the biggest bear hug.”
“Then Baz said, ‘Let me give you guys a moment,’ and we just talked for so long,” Butler continued.
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“At one point [Hanks] said, ‘You know I was at the studio earlier today and I was choosing which doors I was going to throw up outside of for the first couple of weeks.’ And I said, ‘Why? You nervous?” and he goes, ‘Yeah. I’m so nervous.’ I said, ‘You’re nervous? I’m terrified.’ He goes, ‘Nobody knows what Colonel Parker sounds like. Everyone knows what Elvis sounds like.'”
“Suddenly we were colleagues you know,” Butler told long-running TV host Graham Norton. “We were both being able to share in our fear and we were joined in that way.”
Butler is up for Best Actor in a leading role for “Elvis” at the 95th Academy Awards on March 12. Hanks was recognized for best supporting actor at the 2022 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Awards.
