“It’s fun for a week”: Austin Butler opens up about following ‘awful’ diet to gain weight for Elvis role

Austin Butler's performance in Elvis (2022) got him recognition amongst critics and audiences while also earning him nominations and multiple wins in the "best actor" category for many prestigious awards. The 31-year-old actor, however, opened up about the dietary struggles he had to face to get cast as the King of Rock & Roll, Elvis Presley.

In a Variety Awards Circuit podcast clip shared by the magazine on February 16 on its site, Butler was seen talking about how he ingested "microwaved ice cream" after getting inspired by Ryan Gosling. He also ate "two dozen doughnuts" regularly to gain the required weight, appropriate for playing an older Presley.

In the video, Austin Butler says:

"I heard that Ryan Gosling, when he was going to do 'The Lovely Bones,' had microwaved Häagen-Dazs and would drink it. So I started doing that. I would go get two dozen doughnuts and eat them all."

The Dead Don't Die actor also added how consuming so many calories made him feel awful about himself,

"I really started to pack on some pounds. It's fun for a week, and then you feel awful about yourself. But we were planning on shooting chronologically in the beginning. That quickly went out the window with COVID. It was just impossible."

However, as COVID-19 hit the world in 2020, Elvis' filming schedule also got impacted, which made him stop using unhealthy ways to gain weight. For the unversed, Elvis was a commercial and critical success, with Austin Butler earning acclaim for his performance as the legendary singing icon.

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Austin Butler spoke about Elvis getting shut down during production due to COVID-19

Butler, during the Variety Awards Circuit podcast, spoke about how he was delusional and felt that he had landed the part even before the audition took place. He considered the role to be his, which is why he put a lot of effort into preparing for the project.

However, the movie also saw multiple halts, and filming in Australia finally shut down during COVID-19 in 2020. Austin Butler said:

"When we shut down, and you know, initially we thought we'll shut down for two weeks, and then we'll come back, and then that became a month, and then it became six months. And there was that time when where Baz took me to dinner, and he said, you know, 'I think you need to fly back to the States, and the movie may not happen.'"

However, he also said that he refused to return and chose to rent an apartment in Australia until production resumed. Austin Butler didn't return to the US because he feared losing the momentum he had gained while preparing for Elvis. The actor disclosed that he was ready to wait for a year. Fortunately, production resumed in September 2020, and the movie went on to become a success.

For the unversed, the actor bagged a Golden Globe Award in the "Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama" category in January for his portrayal of Elvis Presley in the latter's biopic. Butler's performance in Elvis also got him an Academy Award nomination during the 95th edition of the awards show.