Austin Butler recalls ‘daunting’ experience of filming ‘Elvis’ during COVID lockdown

Austin Butler shared that he stayed in Australia after COVID-19 lockdown halted production of Elvis.

The Golden Globe nominee star, revealed that he spent entire COVID-19 lockdown period preparing for his critically acclaimed performance.

Austin, 31, on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Monday recalled his Elvis co-star Tom Hanks tested positive for coronavirus in March 2020.

“We were, I think, three days before starting shooting. And so I'd been preparing for a year and a half,” said Austin.

“We didn't know what it was. We'd had these scientists come beforehand and tell us what they thought it was. So we were all just first concerned for him and [Tom's wife] Rita. And then once we knew they were okay, the studio called force majeure on the film, which essentially means they don't have to pay anybody. The film is done,” he said.

Austin shared that director Baz Luhrmann told him that he should go back to the United States amid lockdown. “But I knew, I'd just been so focused for so long, that I knew I would lose it if went back here. Because, you know, real life starts flooding in and you lose your focus. So I stayed,” he admitted.

Austin shared that during quarantine he 'wallpapered' his entire apartment with images of Elvis from different time periods.

“I had these compilations of his voice I would listen to every day, his laugh, different songs,” he said.

Austin said, “once I was allowed to leave the apartment, you know, I would usually wake up every day around 3 or 4 in the morning with this terror. It was such a daunting thing. And I really just was guided by my terror really.”

Austin received his first Golden Globe nomination in the Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture-Drama category.