Austin Butler Learned to Dance Like Elvis Presley From ‘Mickey’ Singer Toni Basil
Austin Butler heads into Oscars 95 with a good chance of winning the Best Actor category for portraying Elvis Presley in the feature film Elvis. Much ado has been made about the actor’s physical transformation into the King of Rock and Roll. However, Butler morphed into Presley not only as a singer and actor but as a dancer. He was coached for some of Presley’s most iconic movies by Toni Basil, a choreographer, and singer of the ’80s hit song “Mickey.”
Austin Butler felt a ‘level of responsibility’ in portraying Elvis Presley
In an interview with Collider, Butler explained the responsibility of playing the King of Rock and Roll and singing his songs weighed on his heart. The believes Presley’s life, which he believes has been “so misconstrued.”
“His life has been pulled out of context, and all his family’s gone through,” Butler shared. “So doing justice to them was so much pressure.”
He continued, “This has taught me a lot about managing that level of responsibility and when you have moments of self-doubt, what you do, and all that kind of stuff.”
Butler won the title role in Elvis in July 2019 after director Baz Luhrmann narrowed his hopefuls to Harry Styles, Ansel Elgort, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Miles Teller, and Butler. However, an audition tape Butler submitted to Luhrmann on the heels of a nightmare where he relived his mother Lori’s death secured the role. The actor shared he rose from his bed, put on a bathrobe, went to the piano, and recorded himself singing “Unchained Melody” for his mother.
After securing the role, Butler spent almost three years immersing himself in Presley’s personal life and career. However, preparation for the titular part went way beyond learning to sing and act like the King of Rock and Roll for almost three years.
He also had to learn to move like Presley. Enter Toni Basil, 1980s “Mickey” hitmaker and dancer, who coached Butler through some of the entertainer’s most iconic moves.
Austin Butler learned to dance like Elvis Presley from 1980s superstar ‘Mickey’ hitmaker Toni Basil
Baz Luhrmann wanted Austin Butler to have access to coaches who would help him navigate the many eras of Elvis Presley’s career. Elvis tackles Presley’s complete story, from a teenager in Tupelo, MS, to his final concerts in 1977 before his death.
Therefore, he called on dancer Toni Basil, who worked with Presley on three films. She played “girl with the red dress” in Viva Las Vegas and danced alongside the king in Girl Happy and Clambake.
Basil told Yahoo! she learned about Butler’s audition from a vocal teacher. “I was told, ‘This guy is auditioning for Elvis. We think you’re the one to work with him. Since you worked with the real Elvis, you’ll be able to coach him.'”
She continued, “There were no instructions. But I didn’t need instructions. ‘A guy is auditioning for Elvis? Cool. I know exactly what to do.”
Basil said Butler worked hard and encompassed the many things it took to accurately play Presley. “It wasn’t just how you danced and popped your knees, you know? There was something much more to it. He embodied a lot of the talent, a lot of the pieces, of what needed to go into being Elvis,” Basil explains.
Toni Basil says Austin Butler and Elvis Presley have one thing in common
Toni Basil worked on the Viva Las Vegas set to help Elvis Presley learn his dance moves. While the choreography appeared seamless, Basil credited Presley for his strong work ethic.
She explained, “Elvis, like all big stars, worked very hard. The work ethic was there, and if it is not, it just doesn’t happen. And he worked extremely hard. He was extremely generous with his time if you needed to work with him on a piece.”
Coincidentally, she shared the same thoughts about Austin Butler. “We’d grab a song and begin to imitate Elvis’s movement and put it on Austin,” she explained.
Basil concluded, “First, we worked on the obvious movements. And he just took to the movement. In the beginning, it was foreign to him, but I never thought, ‘Ooh, I don’t know if he’s going to get this.’ He moved seamlessly. Moved through it by hard work.”
Austin Butler is nominated as Best Actor in a Leading Role for Elvis. Oscars 95 airs on March 12, beginning at 8 p.m. EST on ABC.
