The 'Forrest Gump' actor gets his 'Elvis' co-star a role on Apple TV+ miniseries 'Masters of the Air' immediately because he thinks the young star could suffer from 'emotional whiplash' otherwise.
- Aug 15, 2023
AceShowbiz - Tom Hanks offered Austin Butler a role immediately after "Elvis" for the sake of his "mental health." The 67-year-old Hollywood legend starred opposite Butler in the 2022 film, and he was so impressed with his commitment he offered him a part in his Apple TV+ miniseries "Masters of the Air".
Hanks told Butler he thought it would be "wise" to dive into another project because he could suffer from "emotional whiplash" otherwise. Butler, who played Elvis Presley in the movie, recalled to The Sunday Times newspaper that Hanks once told him at a dinner, "You have immersed yourself so deeply in 'Elvis' that, for your mental health, it would be wise to go straight into something else. If you just jump off the train, you might have emotional whiplash ... And, you know, I've got this thing I’m producing."
Butler damaged his vocal cords while filming "Elvis" because he had to do so much singing, and after the film wrapped he struggled to ditch the Southern accent he adopted to play the late King of Rock and Roll. In February, he said on "The Graham Norton Show", "I am getting rid of the accent, but I have probably damaged my vocal cords with all that singing. One song took 40 takes!"
Butler also praised Hanks, who portrayed Elvis' manager Colonel Tom Parker in the movie, as a "master of his craft." He said, "I had no idea what it was going to be like meeting someone you have admired for so long. You hope they would be warm to you, but you never really know. He is such a master of his craft, and I was intimidated, but the first time I met him he gave me the biggest bear hug and joked about how nervous he was. When I said I was terrified, he said: 'And, nobody knows what Colonel Parker sounds like, but everyone knows what Elvis sounds like!'"
