Austin Butler recalls medical scare before ‘The Bikeriders’ shooting

Austin Butler is opening up about a frightening health scare he faced while balancing a demanding work schedule. 

The actor revealed that he briefly went blind during a flight to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he was set to begin filming The Bikeriders.

Speaking with Men’s Health, the Oscar nominee recalled waking up mid-flight with a severe migraine, just as the plane was landing. 

“It felt like the life was being sucked from my body,” Butler said. “I suddenly felt a euphoric sensation, and I actually genuinely thought I was dying.” 

For a few minutes, he experienced temporary vision loss before his sight gradually returned.

Despite the ordeal, Butler went straight to work that same day, chalking up the incident to extreme exhaustion and lack of rest.

The Bikeriders, directed by Jeff Nichols and based on Danny Lyon’s 1968 photo book, tells the story of the Vandals MC, a Midwestern motorcycle club in the late 1960s that shifts from a refuge for outsiders into a dangerous gang.

Reflecting on his acting journey, Butler admitted he once believed the craft had to be painful. 

“For a long time, I felt that it had to be a tortured process and I would come out the other side broken,” he shared. Over time, however, he credits actress Laura Dern with helping him change that perspective. 

According to Butler, she encouraged him to see acting as something that could also be healing, saying that through it “maybe bits of you have healed, and synthesized, and metabolized. It can be therapeutic, in a way.”

Now, the Elvis star is more mindful of his well-being, emphasizing the importance of balance and rest. 

“You don’t have to destroy the light,” Butler said, making it clear that protecting his health is as important as the work itself.