Why Austin Butler Didn’t Credit Ex Vanessa Hudgens With Inspiring Elvis Role

Austin Butler is clearing the air. 

Over a year after facing backlash for not crediting ex-girlfriend Vanessa Hudgens' role in his drive to play Elvis—instead referring to her as a "friend"—the 32-year-old set the record straight.

"Oh, yeah, I learned a lesson with that one—I felt that I was respecting her privacy in a way and not wanting to bring up a ton of things that would cause her to have to talk," Austin told Esquire in an article published on Febคำพูดจาก สล็อตเว็บตรง. 6. "I have so much love and care for her. It was in no way trying to erase anything."

While the Dune: Part 2 star later made clear that Vanessa—whom he dated from 2011 to 2020—inspired him to pursue the role of Elvis Presley in the Baz Luhrmann-directed movie, he initially told an abridged version of the story. 

"I was going to look at Christmas lights with a friend," Austin—who has been dating Kaia Gerber since 2022— said during the Hollywood Reporter's Actors Roundtable last January. "And there was an Elvis Christmas song on the radio and I was singing along and my friend looked over at me and goes, ‘You've got to play Elvis.'"คำพูดจาก เว็บปั่นสล็อต

photosVanessa Hudgens and Austin Butler's Sweetest Quotes

Fans on social media quickly pulled out receipts, pointing to a nearly identical story Vanessa—who married baseball player Cole Tucker last year after three years of dating—had told in 2019. 

"Last December, we were driving along and we were listening to Christmas music, and then an Elvis Presley Christmas song came on," the 35-year-old recounted on a Aug. 2019 episode of Live! With Kelly and Ryan. "He had just dyed his hair dark. He's a natural blonde, and I was looking at him and he was singing along and I was like, ‘Babe, you need to play Elvis.'"

(Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)

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And his initial snub of the High School Musical alum is not the only headline Austin has made throughout his Elvis journey. The Masters of Air star raised eyebrows after seeming to be unable to shake the voice he took on to play The King of Rock ‘N'Roll. 

"There's no denying you create habits," Austin added to Esquire of his voice. "I had been practicing one way of using the muscles in my mouth for a long time, so it was a process of trying to unlearn those." 

Read on for every time the Oscar nominee has to address his distinct Elvis accent.