'Elvis' star Austin Butler found himself in the hospital just after filming wrapped: 'My body just started shutting down'
- Austin Butler said he had to be rushed to the hospital the day after filming wrapped on "Elvis."
- "The next day I woke up at four in the morning with excruciating pain," he told GQ.
"Elvis" star Austin Butler revealed to British GQ that he had to be rushed to the hospital the day after production wrapped on the Baz Luhrmann biopic.
"The next day I woke up at four in the morning with excruciating pain, and I was rushed to the hospital," Butler told the magazine. "My body just started shutting down the day after I finished 'Elvis.'"
Butler said he was diagnosed with a virus that simulated appendicitis, in which the appendix becomes inflamed, and was bedridden for a week.
The 30-year-old actor completely immersed himself in his role as Elvis.
The actor told British GQ that, instead of returning home to Los Angeles, he stayed put in Australia when the movie halted production indefinitely after Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson contracting COVID in March 2020. Hanks plays Colonel Tom Parker in the movie.
"Just images of Elvis everywhere, from every time period," Butler said of how his Australian apartment looked. "I think the film would have been very different if we had started shooting at that point, and I'm grateful I had the time to let myself marinate."
Earlier this month, Presley's daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, gave the movie and Butler's performance high praise on Twitter.
"Let me tell you that it is nothing short of spectacular. Absolutely exquisite," she tweeted. "Austin Butler channeled and embodied my father's heart & soul beautifully."
"In my humble opinion, his performance is unprecedented and FINALLY done accurately and respectfully. (If he doesn't get an Oscar for this, I will eat my own foot, haha.)," she continued in another tweet.
"Elvis" will have its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival this month. It will open in North American theaters on June 24.