Does Austin Butler Have an Accent? ‘Elvis’ Voice Explained

Thank you, thank you very much! Austin Butler is finally addressing those Elvis Presley accent questions after playing the legendary musician in the upcoming Elvis biopic, set to hit theaters on Friday, June 14. From the sound of it, even the 30-year-old actor doesn’t even know why he’s talking like that.

“At this point, I keep asking people, ‘Is this my voice?’ because this feels like my real … it’s one of those things where certain things trigger it and other times as well it’s, I don’t know,” the former Nickelodeon star explained to Entertainment Tonight in an interview released on Tuesday, June 14. “When you live with something for two years, and you do nothing else, I think that you can’t help it. It becomes a fiber of your being.”

When Austin started the film’s press tour, fans took to social media and pointed out how much the actor’s voice had changed. Not to mention, the internet is deeply divided over how he’s speaking with some “begging” him to “drop the deep voice” while others think he “still sounds so sexy, like keep going.” 

“Austin Butler is proof that you can do anything you want when you’re sexy,” one internet user claimed. “His [Met Gala] suit was boring and he *might* be putting on a fake deep voice but I really don’t care. With a face like that, you can make those choices.”

It was announced in July 2019 that Austin was set to take on the iconic role. Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, production on the film — which also stars Tom Hanks and Olivia DeJonge — was delayed. So, the Carrie Diaries alum was immersed in the role for years, which he credits this newfound accent to.

“I hear that a lot,” Austin told ELLE Australia during a June 6 interview, when asked about his voice change. “But I didn’t do anything else for two years [apart from working on Elvis], that’s such a large chunk of life. I’m not surprised that it clicks in.”

He added, “Because I’m a shy person, and when I know that there’s bits of Elvis that I’d have to click into in order to go out on stage and be in front of a ton of people, being surrounded by his name everywhere, there’s triggers.”

The California native explained to the magazine that he spent “so much time obsessing about one thing” that his muscles got used to the voice change. Austin joked, “It’s pretty amazing. I know that I’m constantly changing. Check in with me in 20 years when I’ve played a lot of roles, who knows what I’ll sound like!”