When Austin Butler was promoting his hit movie Elvis back in 2022, he revealed that he felt particularly connected to music icon Elvis Presley after he learned that Elvis had also suffered the death of his beloved mom at 23 years old.
And in a new interview with Esquire, Austin made the rare decision to open up about supporting his mom through her illness prior to her death, revealing that he was actually her primary caregiver during this time and would administer IVs as well as manage her feeding tubes with the guidance of a nurse who would come and go.
“I felt like I had to be a mountain,” he said of that period in his life, before reflecting on the fact that his mom never lost her kind spirit. “She would say, ‘Austin, on your way to the hospital today, go and pick up flowers for all of the nurses.’ What a beautiful lesson for me to have: How do you still think of others even when you’re hurting?”
The Broadway role ended up being life changing for Austin, with his costar Denzel Washington being left so impressed by his talent and work ethic that, unbeknownst to Austin, he phoned Baz Luhrmann and recommended him for the role of Elvis in Baz’s upcoming biopic.
During his opening monologue, the star reflected on the way that he would “do anything” to make his mom laugh as a child, despite his “crippling shyness.”
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