
Famed Australian director Baz Luhrmann was in the middle of casting his new biopic, Elvis, when he received a phone call from none other than actor Denzel Washington.
Luhrmann didn't know Washington, but knew his standing in Hollywood.
And it was Washington who recommended Austin Butler for the role. The pair had worked together in 2018 on a Broadway production of Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh.
"I received this videotape of this young man (Austin Butler) in a flood of tears playing 'Unchained Melody,' and I thought, 'Wow, what is that? How is that happening?' And then I got a call from Denzel Washington, who gave me a cold call. I did not know Denzel. And he said, 'I've just worked with this guy on stage. I've never seen a work ethic like it'."
It was from that moment that Luhrmann thought he had found his Elvis.
Watch Baz Luhrmann's Elvis official trailer. Post continues below.
Given Butler is in the spotlight for his performance in the new biopic, here's all we know about Austin Butler.
Born in 1991 in California, Butler got into acting from a young age. He had a string of roles in Disney and Nickelodeon productions like Aliens in the Attic, Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure, Zoey 101 and a few appearances on Wizards of Waverly Place.
One of his biggest roles was in The Carrie Diaries - a teenage version of Sex and the City.
Acting full time, Butler was homeschooled, and said he was a quiet and introverted child growing up.
"I didn't really have a passion for anything that included other people at that time. I wouldn't go play sports. I wouldn’t do things with other kids. I never had a real prom. But I had prom in a TV show. I printed out the Pulp Fiction script when I was 12, and I'd read it to my mum in the car - that was my dream," he said to GQ.