Austin Butler admits he didn’t see his family for three years while preparing to play Elvis

Some commitment.

Austin Butler has opened up about his preparation for Elvis over the last few years, revealing that he took it more seriously than any other role. Speaking in Variety Actors on Actors conversation with Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery star Janelle Monáe, the actor said that he didn't see his family for "about three years" while he was preparing for the role as he was in character the entire time.

"I went, I was off, we were prepping with Baz, and then I went to Australia," the 31 year old said. "I had months where I wouldn't talk to anybody. And when I did, the only thing I was ever thinking about was Elvis."

Going on to say that he spoke in Elvis' voice the entire time, he said: "I was speaking in his voice the whole time. So then I'd talk to my sister, and she's gotta listen to that."

"You had to say, 'This is who I am. This is what it takes,' " Monae replied.

Austin has previously spoken about the extreme lengths he went to when it came to playing Elvis on the big screen, telling GQ in May that he was hospitalised and bedridden for a week after completing filming. He also revealed that he "went home in tears" after director Baz Luhrmann told producers to "heckle" Austin while he was recording the music for the film. "When I was on my first day in the recording studio, Baz wanted me to get as close to performing as possible," Austin said while being interviewed for the recent cover with VMAN. "He had all the executives and everybody from RCA, who were back in the offices, he brought them into the recording studio and he goes, 'I want you all to sit facing Austin' ... and he told them to heckle me."