Austin Butler confesses it was ex Vanessa Hudgens who predicted his Elvis role

26 January 2023 , 05:13

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Austin Butler confesses it was ex Vanessa Hudgens who predicted his Elvis role

Austin Butler's career defining role was predicted by ex-girlfriend Vanessa Hudgens even before Baz Luhrmann had announced the epic biopic.

The hit movie, which sees Austin, 31, portray the King of Rock N Roll, was a huge success in the cinema and has landed the star with a Golden Globe win and Oscar nomination.

He had previously revealed it was a "friend" who had encouraged him to go for the role should it come up.

However, he has since elaborated on his words and confessed it was in fact his ex-girlfriend of nine years, Vanessa Hudgens who had put the idea in his head.

Vanessa Hudgens and Austin Butler dated for nine years (WireImage)

Austin won a Golden Globe for his role in Elvis (MediaPunch/REX/Shutterstock)

After the LA Times asked him to clarify his comments, Austin said: "I was with my partner at the time.

Austin Butler admits Elvis has damaged vocal chords as he can't shake accent

"[Hudgens and I had] been together for so long, she had this sort of clairvoyant moment and so I really, I owe her a lot for believing in me."

He revealed the 34-year-old once told him "you gotta play Elvis". He opened up to THR on the moment she made the claim, but failed to name-drop his ex.

Austin Butler as Elvis (Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures)

In the chat, he said: "The month before I heard that Baz [Luhrmann] was making the movie, I was looking at Christmas lights and there was an Elvis Christmas song on the radio and I was with a friend of mine.

"I was singing along and my friend looked over at me and said, 'You gotta play Elvis.' I said, 'Oh, that's such a long shot'."

He continued: "A couple of weeks later, I was playing the piano. I never really sang for any of my friends or anything. That same friend was there and I was playing the piano.

Austin has been nominated for an Oscar (Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures)

"She said, 'I'm serious. You gotta figure out how you can get the rights to a script.' Then my agent called and said, 'So Baz Luhrmann is making an Elvis film.''

Fans weren't impressed by the fact Austin failed to mention Vanessa's name, especially as she'd shared the same story publicly in 2019 when the pair were still a couple.

Austin also came under fire following his Golden Globe winners speech. He accepted the award and thanked the Presley family, but fans were quick to question why he was still speaking in Elvis' accent.

Jamie Roberts