Austin Butler Says Playing Elvis Presley ‘Means the World’ to Him After BAFTA Win

The actor, who portrays the late ‘Hound Dog’ singer in the biopic ‘Elvis’, receives the Best Actor award after seeing off competition from Colin Farrell, Brendan Fraser, Daryl McCormack, Bill Nighy and Paul Mescal.

AceShowbiz –Austin Butler struggled to process his BAFTA win. The 31-year-old actor stars as late music legend Elvis Presley, who died in 1977 at the age of 42, in the biopic “Elvis” and received the Best Actor award at the 76th EE British Academy Film Awards on Sunday, February 19 after seeing off competition from Colin Farrell, Brendan Fraser, Daryl McCormack, Bill Nighy and Paul Mescal but struggled to get his words out after his name was called.

Speaking live on stage at the Royal Festival Hall, he said, “Wow! This is truly extraordinary. Thank you all so much, thank you BAFTA for this tremendous honor. My fellow nominees, I’m in awe of you, I’m so grateful for the times we’ve been able to spend together. Oh man, this is amazing! I’m really trying to take everything in and be really present.”

He continued, “I’ve got so many people I want to thank. I want to start by saying thank you to my movement coach Polly Bennett, and James Farrell my agent, I could not have done anything without you, Kate my publicist. Patrick McCormick, and Jack Ravenscroft, he’s our first AD, he used to tell me every day ‘It’s gonna be great.’ Jack, it is great, I love you man. My makeup artists, they were always by my side and allowed me to age from 19 to 42 years old.”

The former “Zoey 101” star went on to thank director Baz Luhrmann and closed out his speech by mentioning the family of Elvis as he expressed his hopes that he has made them “proud” with his portrayal of the “Hound Dog” legend. He added, “Of course, I want to thank Mr. Baz Luhrmann, this film would not have been possible without you. Your vision, your dedication, your commitment every step of the way. I love you dearly. You are my everything. Lastly, I want to thank the Presley family. I can not thank you guys enough for sharing with me who Elvis truly was. I hope I’ve made you proud, this means the world to me. Thank you.”

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