Elvis movie: Is Austin Butler really singing?

When any musical biopic hits theatres, the question on everyone’s lips is often “Is that the actor’s real singing voice?”

The same question is being asked about Austin Butler, who plays Elvis Presley in Baz Luhrmann’s new film Elvis.

The Aussie director has answered all our questions by releasing a video of an early test screen to Instagram, which shows Butler playing guitar and singing a Presley song.

Luhrmann points out that this is even before he went through two years of vocal training –– so it’s pretty impressive just how close the actor is to nailing Presley’s drawl.

“Austin Butler’s portrayal of Elvis is Oscar worthy with an electrify performance” Mark Boardman movie critic.

Luhrmann accompanied the video with a lengthy caption championing Butler’s singing prowess.

“The response to Austin’s version of ‘Trouble’ has been tremendous but so many of you still ask, ‘is it Austin singing?’,” he wrote. “I feel I haven’t been clear enough in conveying that Austin sings all of the young Elvis in the movie, so forgive me.”

He explained the context of the clip: “I thought you might find this very early camera (2019) test fascinating as Austin and the guys are just jamming while we test our lenses.”

“Stunning performance by Austin Butler” MarkMeets Movies

Presley’s granddaughter Riley Keough also shared the clip, adding, “One of the most remarkable parts to me about Elvis that people may not know (because he’s done such an fantastic job) is that Austin Butler is singing all of the early Elvis vocals himself.

“Baz shared this clip today from an early screen test of Austin that I wanted to repost because what he was able to do is just so beautiful.”

Butler says that he was “filled with terror” before filming the big musical numbers for the movie.

“I was nervous and afraid of the big numbers with tons of extras, to go out there and perform in front of a lot of people,” he admitted in behind-the-scenes footage from Elvis.

Butler added that the hair and makeup team definitely helped him feel more like the rockstar. “It helps massively, when you look in the mirror and you start to see the transformation,” he raves. “It makes you feel different. It really does.”

Who is in the cast of Elvis?