Tom Hanks Calls Elvis Presley’s Graceland Jungle Room ‘the Original Man Cave’: Austin Butler Reacts
Academy-award-winning actor and Elvis star Tom Hanks shared his opinion regarding one of the most iconic rooms in Elvis Presley’s Graceland estate. Alongside Austin Butler, who plays the King of Rock and Roll in the new Baz Luhrmann film, the two men discussed their new film and first project together direct from one of Presley’s favorite rooms in the Memphis, TN, residence he called home.
Did Elvis Presley name his home Graceland?
Presley’s Graceland has become synonymous with the King of Rock and Roll. The entertainer’s beloved home, in Memphis, Tennessee, has become a mecca for music fans worldwide. The residence is where admirers can see how Presley lived, get close to some of the most famous artifacts from his life, and pay their respects at his grave in The Meditation Garden. However, Presley was not the person responsible for the now-iconic name of the property. That honor goes to someone outside of Presley’s inner circle.
Elvis Presley purchased Graceland in March of 1957 at the age of 22. He bought the home and adjacent grounds for $102,500 per the home’s official website.
Elvis Presley was not the person that ultimately gave Graceland its name.
According to the property’s official website, that honor went to the family of S.E. Toof.
In 1939, Ruth Brown Moore, and her husband, Dr. Thomas Moore, built the mansion. For generations, the land had been part of the family, and ultimately named after Dr. Moore’s Aunt Grace Toof.
Tom Hanks calls this iconic Graceland room ‘the ultimate man cave’
Hanks and Butler spoke to Good Morning America, where they interviewed with George Stephanopoulos, Amy Robach, and Michael Strahan from Graceland’s Jungle Room.
The actor quipped, “as Guns ‘N Roses said, ‘Welcome to the Jungle Room.'”
He called the area “the original man cave. Elvis Presley was a harbinger of what every man wanted; TVs in every room and a jungle room man cave.”
“It’s never fallen into disrepair. It is the same way it was when Elvis sat on the couch.”
His statement caused Austin Butler to react, breaking into laughter during the interview.
Austin Butler said becoming Elvis Presley was ‘the most intimidating thing I’ve ever done’
Butler shared that portraying the King of Rock and Roll was “the most intimidating thing I’ve ever done.”
“I honestly didn’t sleep for about two years,” he quipped.
Butler also spoke about the importance of singing all of Presley’s earliest hits on-camera.
“The whole thing was about stripping down the icon of Elvis and getting down to the humanity,” the actor shared.
“That’s what was fascinating for me. Music was how he expressed himself. What better way to get to his soul than through music,” he continued.
“It’s so surreal, it feels like a dream,” Butler concluded of his experience working on the film.
Hanks, on the other hand, spoke of Colonel Tom Parker, calling him, “a diabolical genius.”
He shared that Priscilla, Presley’s wife told him that the colonel was a “delightful man.”
She noted, “He brightened every room he walked into. He took great care of us, he was very polite. He never said no. However, he was not Elvis’ manager. He was Elvis’ promoter.”
Austin Butler is the King of Rock and Roll when Elvis shimmies into theaters beginning June 24.
