Movies

Elvis finally left the building: Austin Butler had to hire a dialect coach to get rid of his accent

His dialects were all shook up.

Austin Butler’s Elvis Presley accent apparently still lingered in his voice — two years after playing the late musician.

To get rid of it, the 32-year-old had to hire a dialect coach to phase out his Tennessee twang in order to prepare for the Apple TV+ miniseries “Masters of the Air.”

Butler played the King of Rock ’n’ Roll in Baz Luhrmann’s 2022 musical biopic “Elvis,” a role that earned him an Oscar nomination.

In “Masters of the Air,” he plays a WWII pilot.

The “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood” star appeared on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” where he noted that he filmed the TV show just a week after wrapping “Elvis.”

“It was a lot,” he said of the quick turnaround time on Wednesday.

Butler played the King of Rock and Roll in “Elvis.” ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection

Butler continued: “I was just trying to remember who I was, I was trying to remember what I liked to do. All I thought about was Elvis for three years.

“And then I had that week off and then I flew to London and at that time it was COVID so I’m quarantined for 10 days, so I thought alright just pour all this energy into learning about World War II now,” he said.

The Golden Globe winner added: “I had a dialect coach just to help me not sound like Elvis in that film, that was the whole thing.”

His “Elvis” co-star, Tom Hanks, is one of the producers of “Masters of the Air.”

Butler on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” Scott Kowalchyk/CBS

Butler told Colbert how Hanks wanted him to join the cast of the drama.

“I was having dinner with Tom Hanks in Australia and he was sort of joking saying, ‘You’re going to lose your mind when you finish this three years of your life focused on this one thing, you’re gonna have to find something else to jump right into right afterward.’

“And the other producer, Pat McCormick, who is a good friend of mine, he said, ‘Well Tom, find him something to do,’ and then Tom said, ‘Well I’ve got this World War II thing I’m working on,’ ” he went on.

Luckily, Butler’s voice returned before taking on the new role. But he did still have it when he accepted his Golden Globe award in January 2023.

Butler’s next project is the World War II drama series, “Masters of the Air.” Gregory Pace/Shutterstock

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times last year, the “Aliens in the Attic” actor blamed his “muscular habits” for his low voice.

“It’s funny to me because I don’t even think about it,” he said at the time. “I guess after three years of doing everything that I could to focus on this one goal of trying to bring life to Elvis in this film, I think that there’s certain muscular habits that must pop up.

“If I was trying to sound like Elvis, I would sound very different right now,” he continued. “I think it’s sort of amusing to me how much people want to focus on this one thing.”

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