One Direction star Harry Styles wanted to be Elvis in the upcoming movie starring Austin Butler (Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood) as the legendary musician. The film’s director, Baz Luhrmann (The Get Down), was on the Australian podcast Fitzy & Wippa, where he spoke about why he rejected the pop star turned actor.
“Harry is a really talented actor. I would work on something with him [but] the real issue with Harry is, he’s Harry Styles,” Luhrmann said. “He’s already an icon. Harry and I came to a place, genuinely I mean, he was just desperate to put the suit on and explore. He’s such a great spirit and I have nothing but great things to say about Harry Styles.”
Instead of Harry Styles for Elvis, it went to Butler. The actor dedicated himself to the role, and when you watch the trailers, you can practically hear it in his voice as his singing sounds almost identical to the original. Luhrmann spoke about how perfect it was that Butler got the part.
“The thing about Austin was that he will tell you himself, I didn’t pick him: It’s as if he was drawn, like the role drew him in, because he was almost born to play it. You know, we can talk about it now, he like loses his mom at the same age that Elvis did. He sends a video to me with this thing and… He just happened like two years non-stop living and breathing as Elvis. He’s now going through a sort of, it’s like, deprogramming thing because he’s been a long time since he’s known who he was.”
No Elvis For Harry Styles, Yes to Other Roles
Not getting a dream role for Harry Styles as Elvis is not the end of the world. The actor has found his stride in Hollywood and has a lot in store. In recent years, he starred in Dunkirk and made a cameo in Eternals, setting him up for a possibly bigger role in Marvel’s seemingly unstoppable franchise. Coming up, he will lead My Policeman with Rupert Everett (Adult Material), Linus Roache (Mandy), Gina McKee (Catherine the Great), David Dawson (The Last Kingdom), and Emma Corrin (The Crown).
Elvis stars Butler, Tom Hanks, Olivia DeJonge (The Staircase), and Dacre Montgomery (Stranger Things). It releases in theaters on June 24th.