Elvis star Austin Butler has opened up about being rushed to hospital after his body began shutting down.
Now, Butler might have landed the role of a lifetime, but he started off as a Disney kid. He began his career in television appearing on both Disney Channel and Nickelodeon.
He fell into the acting business aged thirteen when he was approached by a rep from an acting management company who saw potential in the young star. They helped him get started in the entertainment industry.
After realizing he had a knack for acting, Butler began taking acting classes. After this, he started out working as an extra, then moved on to play the role of Lionel Scranton for two seasons on Nickelodeon’s Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide.
Just two years later, Butler landed the role of Derek Hanson in Hannah Montana. And after spending most of his early career playing teen heartthrobs, Butler ventured into broadway and film.
He made his Broadway debut in the 2018 show The Iceman Cometh, which critics raved about.
He later took to the big screen to play Tex Watson in Quentin Tarantino’s film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood in 2019. Although he only had minimal screen time, his performance caught everyone’s attention.
Which led to him auditioning for his most recent movie.
As many will already know, Butler famously starred in the hit movie Elvis, Baz Luhrmann’s biopic of Elvis Presley, shining a light on his formative years and rise to stardom in the 1950s.
It tells the story of his life from childhood to rock and roll legend, touching on his relationship with the important people in his life. Most importantly, his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, and his then-wife, Priscilla Presley, and all the ups and downs of his career.
Fans had been raving about Elvis since it first came out. But despite the incredible reception, Butler went through a lot whilst filming.
The actor opened up about how he fully immersed himself in the character for 6 whole months when filming was postponed due to the pandemic.
It took a lot out of him, admitting that he began to lose touch with who he was.
After production finished, Butler was rushed to the hospital…
“I didn’t get sick the entire time I filmed, but the day that I finished, I ended up in the emergency room,” he told People.
“You can lose touch with who you actually are. And I definitely had that when I finished Elvis — not knowing who I was,” he later said to GQ. “The next day I woke up at 4 in the morning with excruciating pain, and I was rushed to hospital.”
“My body just started shutting down the day after I finished Elvis,” Austin said.
Thankfully he has fully recovered, but after hearing the news, fans shared their thoughts, with one writing: “He put his whole heart and soul into the role of Elvis and he was INCREDIBLE!!!!!! And now he is kinda stuck with the Elvis tone of voice when he speaks.”
While another gave their theory: “Prob freaking dehydrated from all the dancing and choreography that his body broke down. I’ve been there too – continuous Marine Corps training with zero rest, my body collapsed and I was out of commission for 3 days.”
“I could imagine working that hard, portraying Elvis… Would be Exhausting !!! Deserved the rest!!” a third commented.
