In case you’re not a chronically online person, allow me to give you a little background to an absolutely absurd situation.
Austin Butler is an actor.
You might know him from a variety of roles on the Disney Channel and The CW, but he’s perhaps best (and most infamously) known now for portraying Elvis Presley in Baz Luhrmann’s 2022 musical biopic extravaganza, Elvis. Austin gained critical acclaim for the role, winning a Golden Globe for Best Actor as well as countless nominations at other major award shows, including a coveted Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.
In fact, the main source of praise for the film overall was the actor’s uncanny performance of the icon. Namely, the speaking voice he used in the film was strikingly similar to the singer. However, after a very viral press tour, it quickly became apparent to viewers that the deep, sultry southern drawl he was putting on to mimic Elvis on-screen was not being “put on” at all—it was how the actor was speaking casually now.
This, as all strange things do, became somewhat of a meme online, with a user posting countless comparison videos of how he spoke before and after the role:
However, the actor has stood by the opinion that he doesn’t personally believe he sounds like Elvis, even poking fun at the constant question when he hosted Saturday Night Live:
Given that the actor had been working on the film for three full years, the accent appeared to have simply become his real voice. It became so all-encompassing that the actor admitted to having to hire a dialect coach in 2023 in order to try and get rid of Elvis.
During an appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Austin noted, “I don’t even think about it. I don’t think I sound like him still, but I guess I must because I hear it a lot. I often liken it to when somebody lives in another country for a long time, and I had three years where that was my only focus in life. So I’m sure that there’s just pieces of my DNA that will always be linked in that way.”
While most were quiet on the whole voice thing for a while after that, the discourse has reignited recently while the actor has been out on the press tour for Dune: Part Two, with fans still confused as to whether or not that’s Austin’s real voice or not—though, most seem to have accepted that the actor has simply, you know, aged, thus resulting in a deeper voice:
Honestly, y’all, I think that might just be what the man’s voice sounds like? Maybe?
At least Dune fans are starting to talk about something else online today, namely, the quote, “may thy knife chip and shatter” memes:
At least the latest trending Dune meme is not (entirely) about Austin’s voice.
