Austin Butler Was ‘Rushed to the Hospital’ After Wrapping ‘Elvis’

Austin Butler ended up bedridden for a week after his body began “shutting down” the day after he wrapped his role as Elvis Presley for Baz Luhrmann’s upcoming biopic. The actor revealed his health scare in a new interview with GQ, revealing he had to be rushed to the hospital after contracting a virus that simulates appendicitis. 

“My body just started shutting down the day after I finished Elvis,” Butler recalled. “The next day I woke up at four in the morning with excruciating pain, and I was rushed to the hospital.” The star ultimately recovered and has since been promoting his upcoming film, Elvis, which opens nationwide on June 24. Butler recalled first meeting Elvis’ ex-wife, Priscilla Presley, during a trip to Graceland when he initially agreed to take on the part of the musical legend. “She looked like an angel,” Austin recalled of their meeting. “I walked down the hall with Baz afterwards with tears in my eyes.”

Butler did have to put in a lot of work to create a realistic depiction of The King, but he drew on a deeper life experience both he and Elvis shared to get down to the root of his character. “His mother passed away when he was 23, and my mom passed away when I was 23,” Butler said. “So when I learned that, it was one of those things where I got chills, and I just thought, ‘Okay, I can connect to that.’”

Butler’s portrayal of the late icon has gotten the stamp of approval from Elvis’ ex-wife and granddaughter, Riley Keough. “I’ve seen Elvis the film, I watched the trailer over a dozen times,” Priscilla previously wrote on Instagram. “But the words I heard from my daughter on how much she loved the film and that Riley will love it too when she sees it brought tears. I relived every moment in this film. It took me a few days to overcome the emotions as it did with Lisa. Beautifully done Baz, Tom, Austin and Olivia.”

Keough would later call watching the film a “very emotional experience” in an interview with Variety. “It wasn’t like I distrusted Baz in any way, but you’re protective over your family,” the Zola star explained. Despite her hesitation, Keough “started crying 5 minutes in and didn’t stop,” as it touched her deeply. “There’s a lot of family trauma and generational trauma that started around then for our family,” she said. “I felt honored they worked so hard to really get his essence, to feel his essence. Austin captured that so beautifully.”