Austin Butleris recalling the trip to an emergency room that he made immediately after filmingElvis.
While he told PEOPLE’sJanine RubensteinandJeremy ParsonsSunday during thePEOPLE & Entertainment Weekly Red Carpet LiveSAG Awards 2023preshow that playing the late King of Rock ‘n Roll was “the greatest ride of my life,” it also presented some health challenges.
For example, the 31-year-old actor lost his voice at one point while performing vocals for theBaz Luhrmann-directed drama, and previously revealed that he was hospitalized and bedridden for a week with a virus that simulates appendicitis.
Before hopping on to another project, “I had a week of downtime, where I actually ended up in the hospital,” Butler said on Sunday at theSAG Awards. “I didn’t get sick the entire time I filmed [Elvis] but the day I finished, Iended up in the emergency room.”
“So I spent a week in bed and then I went to this other job,” he added.
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Austin Butler.Amy Sussman/WireImage
In a May 2022 interview with BritishGQ, Butler opened up about waking up “at 4 in the morning with excruciating pain” andbeing “rushed to hospital.”
“My body just started shutting down the day after I finishedElvis,” he continued.
Speaking about losing his voice during filming, Butler told Rubenstein and Parsons on Sunday that it happened when he was performingElvis Presley’s version of “Never Been to Spain.”
“We did so many takes. And at a certain point, I just lost my voice,” the actor explained. “So then I went on vocal rest for a couple days, and I was able to come back.”
Butler has been open about his commitment to the role of Presley inElvis, saying in aVarietyActors on Actors conversation published in December 2022 thathe did not see his family for “about three years"while he got into character as the music legend.
His attendance at theSAG Awardscomes weeks after he took home the best actor in a drama for his performance as Presley at last month’sGolden Globe Awards, and just a week afterhe won best actorat theBAFTA Awardson Feb. 19.
“I owe this to a bold, visionary filmmaker who allowed me the experience to take risks and I always knew I would be supported,” Butler said duringhis speech at the Globes, praising his director. “Baz Luhrmann, I love you. Thank you for believing in me in those moments that I didn’t even believe in myself.”
“I also want to thank my dance partner, the greatest dance partner I could have ever hoped for Mr.Tom Hanks, thank you,” the actor added of his costar.
The 2023 SAG Awards ceremony is airing live on Sunday at 8 p.m. from the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles, onNetflix’s YouTube channel.
source: people.com
