Austin Butler called Vanessa Hudgens his friend when he narrated his inspiration for pursuing the role of Rock & Roll legend, Elvis Presley, in his biopic, Elvis.
Speaking in The Hollywood Reporter's Actors Roundtable on January 10, Austin Butler, who won a Golden Globe for his role in Elvis, said it was a "friend" who inspired him to pursue the role of Elvis Presley in the movie.
Butler recalled the story, "The month before I heard that Baz [Luhrmann] was making the movie, I was going to look at Christmas lights with a friend, 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.' I said, 'Oh, that's such a long shot,'"
"A couple of weeks later, I was playing the piano," he continued. "I never really sang for any of my friends or anything. That same friend was there and I was playing the piano. She said, 'I'm serious. You gotta figure out how you can get the rights to a script.' Then my agent called and said, 'So Baz Luhrmann is making an Elvis film.'"
Although Butler didn't mention Hudgens' name, the High School Musical alum had shared a nearly identical story years ago when the two were still together.
