Austin Butler is well-known for his commitment to the role. Though he never described his craft as ‘method acting.’
But some attributed this to him. There are, however, examples to back this up.
He seemingly attached himself so much to the role of pop icon Elvis Presley in his biopic that when the film wrapped, he had to rush to the hospital.
In his words, theDune: Part IIstar described, The next day I woke up at four in the morning with excruciating pain, and I was rushed to the hospital.”
“My body just started shutting down the day after I finished Elvis,” he told GQ Hype at the time.
In light of this, the 34-year-old in his new movieCaught Stealingshaved his head, as his character at the film’s end takes up the identity of his on-screen neighbour Russ (Matt Smith), who has a signature mohawk.
"It was liberating," Austin said in an interview withEW, noting he initially, however, had reservations about it.
"At first, I felt reticence toward shaving my head into a mohawk because I had no idea what it would look like and my own feelings around what that was going to be.”
He continued, “I didn't know what that was going to feel like, but once I shaved it, it was incredibly liberating.”
However, the experience he had was something he did not expect. “When you shave your head for the first time, the physical feeling of the hair follicle is an amazing sensation,” the actor explained.
Despite having a mohawk during the filming of the movie, Austin said he shaved it fully to mark the end of the shoot.
"I shaved it all off, and Darren and I jumped in the ocean in Tulum," the star recalled of diving into a beach in Mexico where the last scene was filmed.
“It was a symbolic way of ending. We floated in the ocean for a couple of hours,” he remembered.
Caught Stealingis playing in theatres.