by Watch: Austin Butler, Elvis Can’t Shake His Voice
Golden Globes audiences were stunned and amused when Austin Butler accepted the award for portraying Elvis Presley in the voiceover of the rock n roll legend.
The 31-year-old star won the Best Actor – Drama award at Tuesday night’s ceremony for his performance in the lead role in Baz Luhrmann’s musical biography Elvis.
Read more: How historically accurate is the Elvis biography?
Butler beat out the hot Brendan Fraser in The Whale for the award, Hugh Jackman for The Son, Bill Nighy for Living, and Jeremy Pope for The Inspection.
Yıldız made a long speech from the stage of the Beverly Hilton Hotel and thanked the Presley family, co-stars and director.
He also offered Denzel Washington special words of thanks for “thank you for your kindness and generosity to support me when you don’t have to”.
In the second part of the speech, Butler referred to the music he was given to play offstage, taunting that “they could at least play Suspicious Minds or something”.
Read more: Priscilla Presley praises ‘amazing’ Austin Butler
But it was his accent that caught the audience’s attention, there was much more to the California-born actor’s voice as he spoke than Presley’s distinctive Mississippi accent.
In a red carpet interview with Access Hollywood before the ceremony, Butler mentioned that her accent has changed visibly since she immersed herself in the role of Elvis.
“If you live in another country or something like that for a long time, I liken it to you being intertwined with a lot of things and it’s kind of become part of your DNA,” he said.
Read more: How do Elvis’ stars compare to their real-life counterparts?
But viewers watching The Globes were still perplexed by a post that said they were “convinced that Austin Butler was shot in the head while filming Elvis and now they’re convinced he can only do that accent.”
Others noted that Butler was just “somewhat dedicated” and maintained that accent throughout the film’s awards season.
Elvis was nominated for a total of three Golden Globe awards, the film was also shortlisted for Best Picture – Drama, and Luhrmann was nominated for Best Director.
In both of these categories, the film lost to Steven Spielberg’s clear Oscar lead—the semi-autobiographical drama The Fabelmans.
Read more: Full list of Golden Globe 2023 winners
The Fabelmans and Everything Everywhere received two awards at All at Once Globes, while Martin McDonagh’s black comedy The Banshees of Inisherin won the night with three.
On the television side, big wins were made with House of the Dragon, Abbott Elementary, and The White Lotus, while Zendaya earned the acting gong for Euphoria.
Watch: Elvis Trailer
