Austin Butler Claims Elvis Accent Is in His “DNA” After Getting Mocked for Golden Globes Speech

By Greta Bjornson @greatbjornson
Published Jan. 11, 2023, 2:21 p.m. ET

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Austin Butler has heard all of the buzz about his “Elvis voice,” and the actor is finally weighing in. After snagging a Golden Globe award last night for his portrayal of the late musical icon in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, Butler was roasted online for his speech when viewers pointed out he’s yet to drop the thick accent. Now, Butler says that southern drawl is part of his DNA, so get used to it.

When asked yesterday (Jan. 10) about how his voice has changed since working on the film, which premiered in June 2022, Butler seemed to side-step the question, telling E! News, “It’s hard for me to talk about. I can’t really reflect on it too much. I don’t know the difference.”

But when he was pressed about it again after winning the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Butler elaborated a bit more.

“I don’t think I sound like him still, but I guess I must because I hear it a lot,” he said in the press room, per Variety. “I often liken it to when somebody lives in another country for a long time. I had three years where [Elvis] was my only focus in life, so I’m sure there’s just pieces of my DNA that will always be linked in that way.”

Butler has previously said he picked up the Elvis accent while working on Luhrmann’s film for years, and found the dialect hard to shake after being immersed in it for so long.

“Certain situations trigger it, I think,” he told Yahoo! Australia, adding, “That was the voice I spoke in for two years. It was so habitual. You get done and you kinda don’t remember what your natural voice is.”

His vocal shift hasn’t gone unnoticed, clearly, and apparently the accent was trigged at last night’s Globes, because Twitter was having a field day as he took to the stage to accept his award.

“If a Canadian Mouseketeer like Ryan Gosling can decide to talk like a De Niro character for the rest of his life, then I’ll allow Austin Butler to keep doing his Elvis voice,” reporter Kyle Buchanan tweeted, while TV writer Karen Han chimed in, “I just need to know if Austin Butler is doing the Elvis voice for Dune 2.”

We have a hunch, but only time will tell!