After the widespread neglect of Darren Aronofsky’s magnificent ‘The Whale’ so far this awards season, which left Brendan Fraser with very little chance, It was practically sung – never better said – that Austin Butler would lift the 2023 Golden Globe for best actor in a drama film for his work on Baz Luhrmann’s ‘Elvis’.
Parallel universes
The aforementioned Fraser, Hugh Jackman —’El hijo’—, Bill Nighy —’Living’— nor Jeremy Pope —’The Invention’— have been able to prevail over the Californian, nominated for the award for the first time in his career. Nevertheless, Butler’s fate could have been very differentsince in a parallel universe he would have starred in nothing less than ‘Top Gun: Maverick’.
According to the casting director Denise Chaiman during an interview with Variety, the last incarnation of the King of Rock on the big screen aimed to get on a fighter jet to give life to Rooster alongside Tom Cruise in the sequel to the 1980s classic, being dropped due to his age: “They thought I was too young”.
But this is not all, since Chaiman also revealed that Miles Teller was behind the role of Elvis Presleygiving in to Butler and members of a list of candidates that included names like those of Ansel Elgort or Harry Styles. Finally, the stars aligned and the casting department did its job properly; and it is so difficult to imagine the duo of actors with their roles interchanged as Emma Stone starring in ‘Babylon’.