Priscilla Presley Officially Sounds Off On The New Elvis Biopic

Priscilla Presley has something to say about Austin Butler's performance in Baz Luhrmann's much-awaited "Elvis" film.

In case you missed it, the "Once Upon A Time in Hollywood" actor managed to snag the highly coveted Elvis Presley role in the biopic musical. Per Entertainment Weekly, he beat out bigger names who had far more experience starring in big-ticket films, including Ansel Elgort, Miles Teller, and Harry Styles, who already has a musical background. According to Butler himself, what ultimately drew him to the role was getting the chance to explore a larger-than-life character. "He's such an icon and held to superhuman status," Butler said at a press conference for the movie, per People. "To get to explore that for years and learn why he was the way that he was, it was such a joy that I could do that for the rest of my life probably."

Butler was so committed to the role that he ended up using his own singing voice in the movie, instead of simply relying on a ghost singer. "[It's] huge shoes to fill," he said of his vocals. "I think when I began the process of this, I set out to get my voice to sound identical to his. I held that for a long time and what that does is it also instills fear, that I'm not going to achieve that or whatever. That got the fire inside of me burning to work and work and work." Fortunately, all his efforts paid off, as the former Mrs. Presley herself gave him and the film her stamp of approval.

Priscilla Presley had nothing but good words to say about Austin Butler, who plays her late husband, Elvis Presley, in the film. In a post shared on her official Facebook page, Priscilla gushed about the movie, saying that she had recently seen it during a private screening, along with Jerry Schilling, Elvis' former manager.

"It is a true story told brilliantly and creatively that only Baz, in his unique artistic way, could have delivered," she said of the film, before singing the actor's praises. "Austin Butler, who played Elvis is outstanding... Bravo to him...he knew he had big shoes to fill... Tom Hanks was Col Parker in this film. What a character he was." She also acknowledged that the story didn't end well in real life and in the film, but she's glad it was handled with care. "The story, as we all know, does not have a happy ending. But I think you will understand a little bit more of Elvis' journey, penned by a directer who put his heart and soul and many hours into this film."

At the 2022 Met Gala, Butler said that aside from doing Elvis justice, one of his goals was to meet Priscilla and Schilling's expectations. "Proud was really at the core of it all for me," he said, per People. "Making all the people who loved Elvis so much proud. I just set out to find his humanity as much as I could and bring that out with as much life as much as I could."