Baz Luhrmann has explained why he didn’t cast Harry Styles as Elvis Presley in the biopic movie because Styles is ‘already an icon’.
The award-winning director has explained his casting in the upcoming movie Elvis after the British singer revealed he’d auditioned for the titular role but obviously didn’t get it as Austin Butler was cast.
Elvis is ‘sacred’ to Styles
Back in May the ‘As it was’ singer told NME he was ‘intrigued’ when he heard about the role and explained being so enamoured by Elvis he should ‘try to get the part’.
The 28-year-old said: ‘Elvis was probably the first person I knew besides my family when I was a kid. For that reason, there was something incredibly sacred surrounding him, so I thought I should try to get the part.
‘I was very intrigued by it… I feel like if a director feels like I’m not the best person for the role then it’s better for them and it’s better for me,’ he continued, ‘If they think the movie’s going to be better with someone else then I don’t want to do it because I don’t want to be the not-as-good version.’
Austin Butler Was ‘born to play’ Elvis
Following this, the 59-year-old director told the Fitzy & Wippa podcast exactly why he didn’t cast Styles in the role – he’s ‘already an icon’.
Luhrmann explained he thought Styles was a good actor and ‘would work on something with him’ but it was Butler who was simply ‘born to play’ the role of the ‘King’.
He said: ‘Harry is a really talented actor. I would work on something with him … but the real issue with Harry is, he’s Harry Styles. He’s already an icon.
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‘Harry and I came to a place, genuinely I mean, he was just desperate to put the suit on and explore. He’s such a great spirit and I have nothing but great things to say about Harry Styles.’
When talking about Butler he explained the young actor had several similarities to Elvis, he said: ‘You know, we can talk about it now, he like loses his mom at the same age that Elvis did.’
Plus, Butler must’ve really ticked the boxes as even the Presley family and friends said he was spot on for the role.