Actor Austin Butler said his body “started shutting down” just one day after filming wrapped for the forthcoming biopic, “Elvis.”
The 30-year-old actor, who plays Rock-‘n’-Roll legend, Elvis Presley, said he was rushed to the hospital in March 2021 where he spent a week bedridden, according to an interview with GQ.
Butler was diagnosed with a virus likened to appendicitis after immersing himself in the role so much that his body revolted.
“I woke up at four in the morning with excruciating pain,” Butler said. “My body just started shutting down the day after I finished Elvis.”
Butler stepped into the blue suede shoes of the iconic crooner for director Baz Luhrmann’s upcoming biopic.
In February, Warner Bros. dropped a full-length three-minute clip featuring Butler dressed as the musician, slick black hair, sunglasses, and his famous bedazzled white jumpsuit, alongside Olivia DeJonge starring as Presley’s wife Priscilla.
“Elvis” will chronicle Presley’s rise to fame and offer a glimpse into his working relationship with manager, Colonel Tom Parker, played by Tom Hanks.
Yola Quartey, Luke Bracey, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Dacre Montgomery, and Kodi Smit-McPhee also star in the drama, which will sing itself into theaters on June 24.
Luhrmann co-wrote the script alongside Sam Bromell, Craig Pearce, and Jeremy Doner.
During a virtual press conference, Butler and Luhrmann discussed the film and the “Can’t Help Falling in Love” singer’s legacy.
“In this modern era, Elvis couldn’t have been a better canvas to explore America in the 50s, 60s, and 70s,” the Australian filmmaker said, according to The Wrap.
Butler chimed in and explained that the film’s appeal is “fundamentally getting to explore the humanity of somebody who has become the wallpaper of society.”
The “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood” actor added that he had “huge shoes to fill” for the role.
Filming began in January 2020 in Australia, however, production was halted in March after Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson tested positive for COVID-19. Shooting would later resume in September 2020.
