elvis was super cool. you can see it oozing out of him in everything he did. they cast someone who is almost feminine to play him. wtf? look at how narrow this guy's shoulders are. he's almost a woman sometimes. how is he gonna play elvis?
shareElvis was known for his androgenous looks though, he was a combination of the feminine and the masculine. He used to be bullied in school because of it and many adults and guys in the 50s were weirded by his feminine look.
Facially he had great downturned eyes with natural thick winged eyelashes like Marilyn Monroe's when she's made up. He had high cheekbones and pouty full lips. All of these with his long hair are feminine of itself but it is paired with his masculine jawline and face shape, as well as his 6'0 height (which Austin is as well) offsets it.
The way Elvis dressed and wore makeup which many rockstars have since emulated is also known for its androgyny. He loved wearing pink and black, lace shirts, he would even tie them up front, he liked flashy clothes even back in the 50s, he was bullied for it in highschool! He wore his hair long and once he was dragged by bullies to the restroom to cut his hair when Red West, who later became his bodyguard and part of the Memphis Mafia came in and rescued him! He wore a lot of jewelries as far back as the 50s too! He was known to wear both eyeliner and eyeshadow, when he first played Las Vegas in the 50s with this look and while gyrating on stage , the rich older patrons booed him off stage.
interesting, i didnt know this. you do seem to understand it very well. the actor chosen did not have a masculine jaw and that's why he fell flat. however, after reading what you said, maybe they did try to cast elvis faithfully after all.
shareCasting is such a massive beast I don't think there would ever be a complete agreement of who was chosen because everyone pictures Elvis differently. People will say to me 'look at this actor he looks JUST like Elvis!' and I will say...'no, he doesn't' for whatever reasons I deem as being 'Elvis.' So I think the director did the correct thing and not focusing on looks and, instead, focused on heart.
Maybe Austin Butler didn't look 100% like him the way Kurt Russel, John Rhys Meyers or Michael St Gerard did but he made up for it with everything else such as dialect, movement, vocals and just plain dedication and heart. I felt the rush of his concert sequences in a way I never felt when I watch the other film's versions. Those ending scenes where he's losing it with Parker are just brilliant and heart wrenching. Now, I'm not saying the other performers are bad or didn't have the same dedication, but I think something can be said that maybe...MAYBE they didn't feel they need to try AS HARD because they knew they had the looks so it didn't matter. Some of the scenes in Rhys-Meyers film is cringe worthy so I don't care how close he looked like Elvis.
For me, Austin got the feel of Elvis. He got the passion and the grit and the insanity that was Elvis. That's why I keep going back to see the film. I can't take my eyes off of him from a performance perspective and when I leave the theater, all I can think of is going home to watch and research more Elvis. I wish people would look past the 'He doesn't look like Elvis' thing because they are missing the point of the film and missing out on an amazing performance from this young actor.
Yeah with Austin, they put in prosthetic cheeks and a jawline for him to emulate Elvis. You'll notice many find him hotter as Elvis! He was great in the role though because he allowed himself to embody and obsess over Elvis for over 2 years to capture his essence and be faithful to him.
The androgynous look of the 70s classic rockers like Robert Plant is very Elvis inspired.
Well Elvis is Elvis. No one can really get in his shoes. What I felt is Austin had completely different features from Elvis. So no matter how much they would try to make him look like Elvis, it would fail. They nailed a few parts with the Las Vegas performances. But unfortunately they were not really able to bring out Elvis' charisma in the film. It was more of a sad story. That was the same problem I had with Rocketman. It just showed the sad life of Elton. On the other hand Bohemian Rhapsody did a good job portraying Freddie's charisma.
sharei hated bohemian rhapsody. the surviving band members had full control over the script and they left out all of their dramas. they seemed like angels in the story while 90% of it focused on mercury's homosexuality and destructiveness. it wasn't an honest story.
shareAs a Queen and Malek fan, I have to say Bohemian Rhapsody was generic and forgettable. I saw it once and after did not feel the need to watch it again.
Elvis otoh was different. I was neither an Elvis fan nor did I even know who Butler was. But after the film, it stayed with me and I could not get over it. It was both exhilarating (concert performances) and melancholic particularly the ending. By the end of the film, I became both an Elvis and Butler fan. I have since watched this film over 5x! I've read biographies on Elvis, listened to his music nonstop, watched various interviews/documentaries on him, and have watched 30 of his 31 films. To say I am obsessed is an understatement! Lol! That is the power of this and Butler's charismatic performance!
Also this film is told from the narrative of the villain, the Colonel. It's style is similar to Amadeus and Lolita, both told from the villain's perspective. I find this ingenious actually and highly unique in a myriad of generic boring biographies. You'll also notice that the film is shot as a superhero film where Elvis is the superhero and the Colonel the supervillain. A masterstroke imo that may go over some people's heads today but I firmly believe will be lauded as a classic masterpiece in the years to come!
So yeah, I disagree with you.
Kind of an impossible task casting Elvis but I actually thought this guy did a solid decent job.
shareThe acting itself wasn't bad but I do agree he seemed rather small whereas Elvis was a more masculine built man.
shareI thought Austin looked a little too skinny but he did a great job with everything else. He'll definitely get nominated for an Oscar, he might even win it.
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