Austin Butler is no stranger to intensity; it’s been pretty clear since he started making a name for himself a few years back. The 34-year-old actor became a household name after his all-in portrayal of Elvis Presley in Baz Luhrmann’s 2022 biopic. It was a role so consuming that Butler admitted his body “shut down” once filming ended. The work was so shocking that it apparently left him hospitalized and, for a while, questioning whether his approach to acting was sustainable.
Enter Laura Dern!
The Oscar-winning actress, known for “Jurassic Park,” “Blue Velvet,” and “Big Little Lies,” has become something of an unlikely guide for Butler as he navigates the darker corners of his craft. Butler revealed their serendipitous meeting during an interview with Men’s Health, “It was like the whole room just quieted, and we connected on a soul level. We felt like kindred spirits… My mom was even told that she looked like Laura Dern, and so as soon as I saw her, it’s like, “She looks like my actual mom.”
The connection wasn’t just sentimental; rather, it was transformative. Dern gave Butler advice that shifted the way he views his work, particularly when it comes to diving deep into emotionally demanding roles.
“She’s helping me more and more to see that you can come out the other side, and maybe bits of you have healed, synthesized, and metabolized,” Butler explained. “It can be therapeutic, in a way.”
A Meeting That Changed Everything
Butler’s method acting process had once meant disappearing into a character entirely. It’s pretty clear it works for him. After every role he’s portrayed, he’s stayed consistent with it, even for interviews. For “Elvis,” he lived in Presley’s voice and mannerisms for nearly three years! So much so that he required a dialect coach afterward to “un-Elvis” himself, because well, if you’re going to portray one of the most iconic singers in the world, you NEED to make sure you do it correctly. While the performance earned him an Academy Award nomination, it also left him burned out.
“For a long time, I felt that it had to be a tortured process and I would come out the other side broken,” Butler told Variety. “Rather than just putting parts of yourself away and trying to pretend that they don’t exist, it’s like going into the gross bits of yourself—going into the bits that you don’t want to look at—and finding a way of integrating that into the whole.”
Dern’s perspective has helped him soften that outlook. Instead of letting roles consume him, he’s learning to integrate the “shadow self” without sacrificing his health. “You don’t have to destroy the light,” Butler said, which is a line that feels like an equal-parts mantra and lifeline.
The timing couldn’t be more crucial. Butler is one of Hollywood’s busiest stars. He had iconic roles in both “Dune: Part Two” alongside major stars like Zendaya and “The Bikeriders” alongside Jodie Comer. This summer, he headlines Darren Aronofsky’s thriller “Caught Stealing,” opposite Zoë Kravitz, followed by “Enemies,” a Chicago-set crime drama where he plays a killer hunted by Jeremy Allen White’s detective.
Hollywood Mentors & Mundane Fixes
While Dern has helped him on the psychological side of acting, Butler also credits co-star Tom Hardy with showing him the physical side of survival. Hardy’s advice? Sweat it out. “After shooting all night, Hardy would go home, put on a weighted vest, and do 1,000 box jumps,” Butler recalled. He’s since adopted a version of the practice, adding cold showers and morning sun to reset his body and mind. We don’t know how to feel about that, but hey, if it works for him, sure!
The changes might sound small, but for someone who once believed suffering was the only way to create art, they’re monumental.
Stability, and maybe a little peace, is exactly what Dern encouraged him to pursue. For Butler, who once admitted he feared losing himself without a role to embody, Dern’s advice has been a beacon. Basically, you can go to the dark places, but you don’t have to live there.
And judging by Butler’s upcoming slate of films, audiences will benefit from this healthier balance. Because, well, he’s not slowing down, just shining brighter.
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Austin Butler Says Laura Dern & Tom Hardy Gave Him Acting Advice That ‘Changed His Life’