Austin’s southern accent was pretty on point, to be fair to him (Picture: Getty Images)
Austin Butler’s voice coach, Irene Bartlett, has spoken out in defence of the actor after he couldn’t seem to shift the Elvis drawl he adopted to portray the singer in the recent biopic.
The 31-year-old actor appeared to be stuck playing Elvis Presley in his Golden Globes acceptance speech, where he won an award for best actor in the motion picture, drama category .
His southern drawl, which undoubtedly helped earn him the accolade, was met with some mockery online, as one person wrote: ‘Austin butler doing the elvis accent still… someone remove him from the premises quickly PLEASE.’
Another said: ‘I feel like austin butler needs to go back to his voice coach to undo this accent because this is getting out of hand.’
Well, his voice coach is here and she says there isn’t anything wrong with him – so everyone please calm down.
‘Because of Covid shutdowns, he was working on it all the time and it’s difficult to switch off something you’ve spent so much focus [and] time on,’ Bartlett told ABC’s Gold Coast.
Austin did a sterling job at capturing the quirks of The King (Picture: Warner Bros./Avalon)
Presley died from a heart attack in 1977 at the age of 42 (Picture: Getty Images)
Indeed, Austin – who is from California, by the way – has spoken out about the pressure he felt in lockdown to get all of Elvis’ quirks just right.
Chatting on Jimmy Kimmel Live, the actor recalled how, isolated in Australia for the foreseeable future, he plastered his walls with pictures of Elvis from different decades, and got a little bit obsessed.
‘I had these compilations of his voice I would listen to every day, his laugh, different songs,’ he said.
‘And then once I was allowed to leave the apartment, you know, I would usually wake up every day around 3 or 4 in the morning with this terror.
‘It was such a daunting thing. And I really just was guided by my terror really.’
When confronted about his mysterious Mississippi accent backstage at the Globes, the Once Upon A Time In Hollywood actor said he had ‘three years’ where getting Elvis’ deep drawl right was his ‘only focus’.
‘I’m sure there’s pieces of him in my DNA and I’ll always be linked.’
Lisa Marie Presley was heavily involved in the making of the Elvis biopic (Picture: Eric Charbonneau/Shutterstock)
After his Golden Globes speech, the actor endured a difficult week when Elvis’ only child Lisa Marie Presley, with who he attended the ceremony, died suddenly of cardiac arrest aged 54.
Lisa was over the moon with Austin’s portrayal of her late father, who died of a heart attack in 1977 at just 42 years old.
In an interview at the Golden Globes, she said she was ‘proud’ of Austin’s portrayal of her father and the film meant ‘everything’ to her and her family.
In a statement to People, Austin said his ‘heart is completely shattered’ at the ‘tragic and unexpected loss of Lisa Marie’.
More: Trending
‘I am eternally grateful for the time I was lucky enough to be near her bright light and will forever cherish the quiet moments we shared,’ he continued.
‘Her warmth, her love and her authenticity will always be remembered.’
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us [email protected], calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
MORE : What’s up with the Elvisification of Austin Butler?
Follow Metro on Snapchat
You can follow our new Snapchat show Pop Cultur’d, the go-to place for all things pop culture.
Keep up with the latest Showbiz exclusives by following Metro Showbiz on Snapchat.
And football fans can indulge in all the transfer gossip and more on Metro Football on Snapchat.
The Californian appears to be stuck in Mississippi.
