The American actor stars in the biographical film about the “King of Rock”. “For Elvis, it wasn’t just about making music, it was about making his soul sing,” he said.
This Thursday debuts in Chilean cinemas “Elvis”the biographical film directed by Baz Luhrmann about the story of the “King of Rock”, played this time by the American actor Austin Butler.
“For Elvis, it wasn’t just about making music, it was about making his soul sing, and singing something that needed to be sung.”sums up the “Zoey 101” star about her character, whom she had to bring to the stage physically and vocally.
“When Elvis opens his mouth and starts singing, you know who he is. You understand it, you feel it, and that is a very particular talent”, explains the filmmaker Baz Luhrmann (“Moulin Rouge”, “Romeo + Juliet”). “Elvis always has a lot of vocal prowess and he’s always pushing himself and exploring, and out of all of that we had to make our interpretation,” he adds.
On the participation of Austin in the soundtrack of “Elvis”, the director specifies: “Austin sings all of the young Elvis songs himself. All his movements, his whole being and everything after It is a mix between the voice of Austin and the real Elvis”commented.
Austin remembers the shoot: “We went to Nashville and Memphis. We recorded at RCA, where Elvis recorded. It was my first time in a recording studio. I felt a huge panic, but what I leaned on was that Elvis talks a lot about his own fear, his stage fright “.
“This was one of the main reasons why, in the beginning, he started moving like that, because of all this energy inside, and that was the way it came out,” he says about the characteristic and once scandalous dances of the “King of Rock” , which Austin also replicates on the big screen.
“Something Elvis really loved was music. He was someone, I think, who loved to bring people together. And I think the story itself is deeply tied to American culture,” sums up Luhrmann.