Austin Butler says he was rushed to hospital after his ‘body just started shutting down’
Ali Condon
Featured Image Credit: UPI / ZUMA Press, Inc. / Alamy Stock Photo
By now we all know that Austin Butler sacrificed a lot to play the role of Elvis in Baz Luhrman's 2022 film.
He was separated from his family for three years to get into character, lost his natural speaking voice and can now only speak like The King, and drank melted ice cream to put on weight for Elvis's later years.
But it doesn't end there, as Austin has also revealed that, on top of all that, he was also rushed to hospital after his body 'started shutting down'.
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Speaking at last weekend's SAG Awards, Austin shared that, on the day that filming ended, he was in such 'excruciating pain' that he wound up in hospital.
"I didn't get sick the entire time I filmed," he told People on the red carpet, "but the day that I finished, I ended up in the emergency room."
He added that he had to spend 'a week in bed' before he could get back up and start work for his next project.
Austin had previously opened up about the terrifying health scare, telling British GQ back in May 2022 that he 'woke up at four in the morning with excruciating pain' and had to be 'rushed to hospital' after contracting a virus that stimulated the symptoms of appendicitis.
"My body just started shutting down the day after I finished Elvis," he revealed.
And that's not the only injury Austin has suffered due to his commitment to the role.
The California native worked hard to achieve Elvis's Southern twang - so hard that he kept up the accent for a lot longer than he intended to - and perfect Elvis's iconic performances.
But during his recent appearance on The Graham Norton Show, Austin admitted that he even went as far as damaging his vocal cords.
"I am getting rid of the accent, but I have probably damaged my vocal cords with all that singing,” he revealed, adding that one particular song took a good 40 takes.
It looks like all that hard work - and damage - might have paid off, though, because Austin is having a super strong awards season.
Not only is he nominated for Best Actor at next week's 95th Academy Awards, but he has already won in the same category at the Golden Globes and the BAFTAs.
After his BAFTAs win, the actor spoke about his standout memory from this time in his life, telling press he'll always remember 'the feeling of standing on an international stage and looking out, and looking down at the jumpsuit that I was wearing'.
He added: "Realising there were certain moments where I was seeing the closest thing to what Elvis would have seen. I miss it a lot, I miss that experience. I don't miss the terror that I felt every day, but the elation that I felt with that.
"I miss the people that I got to make the film with, they became completely like family to me and I miss them."
He also paid tribute to the late Lisa Marie Presley who passed away earlier this year, and had been very supportive of Austin in his awards season run.
"It's been a really unimaginably tragic time," he admitted.
"Grief is a long process and so my heart and my love is with them [The Presleys] always. I feel honoured to have been welcomed into the family. It's a bittersweet time."