MovieChat Forums > Elvis (2022) Discussion > What was they thinking with the casting ...

What was they thinking with the casting of Elvis?


Guy looks NOTHING like Elvis, at all. You would think the main priority or at least one of them would be casting someone who looks like Elvis, and they didn't even try. They just casted this guy and put a wig on him and put him in the clothes and thought that would be enough, even though facially the guy doesn't resemble Elvis in the least. Looks like some schlub they found in Vegas doing an Elvis cosplay.

That just takes me out of the movie when you got someone who is CLEARLY not Elvis and doesn't even resemble him, i can't suspend my disbelieve for a second thinking that guy is Elvis.

I dunno if anyone here has seen Pam and Tommy, but Lily James who looks nothing like Pam Anderson irl was transformed in that show and looks JUST like Pamela Anderson, its almost freaky. Why could they not put that kind of effort into Elvis?

All the technology we got now, deepfakes, and world class prosthetics/makeup and they didn't even fucking try with Elvis, just casted a guy who looks nothing like him and did nothing to even try and make him look like him. Such a fucking shame.

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This guy is ok, but they could have done a lot better. I can still buy it with some suspension of disbelief if his acting is good enough. The one actor I couldn't buy as Elvis at all was Michael Shannon in Elvis and Nixon

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Oh amen. Was even more of a mismatch than this one LOL.

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The only people who have seen Elvis alive are old and senile, so they won't even notice.

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I'm old (64) but not yet senile. And even while most white folks kind of all look the same to me, Elvis at least looked different than most.

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Alain Delon, Charles Bronson, and Al Pacino all look alike to you? I'm not caucasian or white but out of all ethnic groups, they are more easily identifiable because of variations in hair, eyes, height, etc.

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Alain Delon, Charles Bronson, and Al Pacino all look alike to you?


LOL, no. Just reversing a comment that's from the old days. Those old enough will know what I'm talking about. Also, I don't know who Alain Delon is or what he looks like, but I understand your question.

But OTOH, Elvis was a very distinctive looking individual and while I haven't seen this film yet, I think they could have made an extra effort to find someone with similar features considering how well known his face is. Even people who didn't like or even hate him know what he looks like, perhaps more than most performers.

And sometimes, it's hard to tell Charles Bronson from other Bronsons:

https://youtu.be/-Bt4Ly9_9Qg?t=2




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I'm also not American so maybe that's also it.

Alain Delon is considered by many as the most beautiful man ever captured on screen. He was at his peak in the film Purple Noon, a French version of The Talented Mr. Ripley.

https://tenor.com/view/alain-delon-alain-delon-purple-moon-alain-delon-hand-alain-delon-mr-ripley-french-guy-gif-13879198

I'm not an Elvis fan but this film astounded me, as well as Butler's portrayal. I haven't been able to get this film out of my head and I've been binging on Elvis material since. I've seen too many films of actors who resemble a character but don't do it justice. Butler otoh surprised and impressed me, he was very very good in this.

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It's an old expression from whites that all blacks look the same to them.. I guess it wasn't as funny as I thought.

I wasn't a big fan of The Pelvis (another old timey joke) as I was pretty young when he died, but I am more interested in seeing this film from your impressions alone. You've got me intrigued to say the least.

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I hope you do see it. I was born after he died. I might end up being a fan though with this Elvis binging am doing

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I was Elvis live on stage four times back in the 70s.......twice in Las Vegas at the International Hotel and twice at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island when he was on tour. I'm older but certainly not senile and I have a really good memory of seeing Elvis on stage. One of those performances, I was right next to the stage and could see him up close. He was breath taking in person and that voice......that voice, that absolutely gorgeous voice!!!!!!!

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He looks pretty close to Elvis here: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3704428/mediaviewer/rm498668545/

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In certain angles and shots sure he can look close, but overall in most scenes he doesn't look much like him.

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It helps that he's the same height as Elvis. Remember when 5'8" Joaquin Phoenix tried to pull off 6'2" Johnny Cash in "Walk the Line"? (I'm not saying it's a bad movie, just that I had a hard time buying Joaquin as Cash).

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Too bad Michael St. Gerard retired from acting as he was the absolute epitome of Elvis. So much so that he played him in two movies, his own Elvis series, and in an episode of Quantum Leap. If he was still acting, they could have easily CGI'd him with today's technology. He truly, truly embodied Elvis. It was like that was Elvis's real twin, just born 26 years apart.

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Hes a close enough fit for it to work in the actual movie (a couple of shots/angles in the trailer he looks almost exactly like Young Elvis). maybe similar 'close enough' to Rami Malick as Freddie Mercury, or even the likes of Brandon Routh/Henry Cavll as a Christopher Reeve type Superman. Or the new Star Trek casts to the originals (especially Spock)

Lots of reviews mention his resemblance to Travolta more than Elvis but Travolta was like 'an Elvis' in the late 70s (Grease) so it kind of ties in.

Maybe they could've used abit CG/DF or prosthetics (longer nose) but mustve figure he was close enough,

Ultimatly the older audience/EP fans over 35 be like whaa! He dont look enough like him! Travolta!.., and the younger audience who barely know of EP who see the film and then check out some real Elvis on their phone after just be like meh whatever hes close enough

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Well the problem is this movie was only ever going to be able to draw in the older crowd that knew who Elvis was. The younger people that are clueless wouldn't have any more interest in going to see a movie about Elvis as a retiree would have interest in going to see a movie about Harry Styles. The producers should have known that and cast it accordingly. They spend a lot of effort trying to make Tom Hanks look more like Parker, so why no effort in getting someone that actually looked like Elvis. I could walk into any random Vegas all day wedding chapel and found a better looking Elvis with whatever impersonator happen to be working that night than the guy they cast for the movie. I'm left wondering if the guy the hired was just willing to bite a pillow on the casting coach for some producer because he misses the mark in looks and misses the mark in acting ability... what is left that got him this job.

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The Presley family sings praises of his portrayal of their patriarch yet his fans have more weight in who should play Elvis? I doubt 80 year olds frequent social media, so the naysayers are at the oldest gen x and gen z at the youngest.

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And ex-wife and daughter that was 9 when he died are hardly going to be some great oracle of what he looked like. Anyone can pull up photos of what he looked like at any given time in the past and unless you asked Stevie Wonder it is pretty fucking clear he looks nothing like Elvis.

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So some online bitter fan who never met him with fewer pics and vids than his family is your oracle? The level of disrespect you fans have for his family is unbelievable. Entitlement at its best. Vulgarity does not recommend anyone.

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I'm not a fan you ignorant cunt, but I really doubt the family members like Lisa Marie have seen any more video of her dad than most of his fans have. It isn't as if he lived the life of recluse his home movies and shit have been pushed to the public for decades. Your insane insistence that people looking at the trailers of the movie are somehow unable to tell whether the actor looks like Elvis is beyond belief.

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Thank you for proving what you are.

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Its now even looks. His looks is kinda ok.

Its the acting. We all saw how Elvis was funny and had lighthearted attitude. He was Easy guy.

While all trailers show how Austin Butler looks like frozen mannequin in every scene. Because he is weak actor - it looks like he was so obsessed with imitating Elvis looks that he couldnt act him like he was real human being. They should have found a better actor. But they were looking for the one that visually can look the closer.

Austin Butler looks Intense in every scene.

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They chose a "guy" that looks like a woman... Hope this piece of shit flops

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