Thank goodness the actor is finally having a moment. He’s been one to watch since starring on ‘The Carrie Diaries.’
Back in 2019 when it wasannouncedthat Baz Luhrmann ’s next film would be an Elvis Presley biopic , the handful of name in the running to play the rock ' n ' roll ikon made a lot of sense . There wasHarry Styles , a rock star himself ; Aaron Taylor - Johnson , who had already trifle a immature John Lennon in another music biopic , Nowhere Boy ; Miles Teller , whose charisma you could picture in the role ; and Ansel Elgort , who has since beenaccusedof sexual violation but was being cast in other musicals at the time , likeSteven Spielberg’sWest Side Story .
There was also a fifth name in consideration : Austin Butler , who , in comparison to the other A - lister plough vie , seemed like a bit of a wild posting . But after the"intense"audition process , Luhrmann ended up being the most impressed with Butler , crown him The King in the passion project that he ’d been working on since 2013’sThe Great Gatsbywrapped .
Elvisis now finally in theaters , and while the review are all over the stead , the one thing most critics can agree on is how wild Butler is . If he was n’t who you had counted on to toy Presley , or if you simply had n’t take heed of the actor prior to the release — well , perhaps aside from his nine - year function as Vanessa Hudgens ' boyfriend , which call for many public Coachella appearances — the bombination around his performance might have you intrigued . It would bevery wrong , though , to say that everybody is only now recognizing Butler ’s previously untapped voltage . For rooter of The CW’sThe Carrie Diaries , which move for two season in 2013 and 2014 , it ’s plainly about damn time that the charmer had his breakthrough minute .
Austin Butler at the London premiere of ‘Elvis’|Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images for Warner Bros.
The truth is , the world has been kip on Austin Butler — aside from the small but mighty hive ofCarrie Diariesfans who have been wait for years for the we - told - you - so present moment we ’re now experiencing . The teenaged series , a prequel toSex and the Cityabout eminent - school - ripened Carrie Bradshaw , was arguably his first major role . After a fistful of appearance in kids picture and TV stints , primarily on The Disney Channel and Nickelodeon , he joinedThe Carrie Diariesin 2013 as Carrie ’s bad - boy love interest Sebastian Kydd . The CW show was n’t at all canon , and the only male child Carrie had eyes for was Sebastian — never bear in mind that in the HBO show she say she lost her virginity to Sean Bateman on his Ping River - pong tabular array . But that ’s besides the point , because Butler was one of the clear standouts . Like AnnaSophia Robb ’s broad - eyed Carrie , you could n’t help but swoon whenever he appeared and fundamentally felt weak in the stifle when he called her " Bradshaw . " Between their first kiss in a swim pool and every setting in which they share his Walkman , the new role player had a presence that was hard to cut .
It was a crime not only whenThe Carrie Diarieswas cancel , but that Butler did n’t just become an in - demand result man . plainly , not enough Hollywood EXEC had seen the manner he smile at Carrie down the shoal hallways . A few years subsequently , he joined another shortly - lived adolescent serial publication , MTV’sThe Shannara Chronicles , and then was n’t seen all that much on - screen again , until a scene - stealing performance as Charles Manson adherent Tex Watson inQuentin Tarantino ’s 2019 filmOnce Upon a Time … in Hollywood . But while he was n’t land many major movie roles , he was catch the aid of theatre of operations fans andtheNo . 1 thespian - turned - Hollywood - royalty : Denzel Washington , with whom Butler star opposite in a 2018 Broadway rendition ofThe Iceman Cometh .
In fact , we really have Washington to give thanks forElvis , as he literally gave Luhrmann a cold call andurgedhim to see Butler in an audition , having been so impressed with his stage work . ( I also like to think Denzel is secretly aCarrie Diariesstan . ) And not only does Washington ride for Butler , but Presley ’s hold up family have been more thanimpressedby the worker . ( When his granddaughter Riley Keoughinvitedhim to the Graceland estate , I like to guess they all give the sack up a orgy watch ofThe Carrie Diaries . )
Austin Butler in ‘Elvis’|Warner Bros. Pictures
Really , it was only a matter of time before the rest period of the mankind saw Butler the direction fans ofThe Carrie Diariesdid in the 2010s . And it ’s only the beginning : Next , he ’ll start body of work on the highly anticipatedDunesequel , call for on a role that was magnificently take on by a young Sting in the David Lynch adaptation from 1984 . It may have taken a few years , but the moment Butler is having is not unlike the faint - induct hold Elvis Presley fire up decade ago as his popularity grew . We ’re quick for the star ’s swiveling hips to bump off the big screen , and we ’ll follow his smoulder through whatever blockbuster or awards - primed indie he inevitably does next .
AnnaSophia Robb and Austin Butler in ‘The Carrie Diaries’|Warner Bros. Television Distribution
