Q&A: Austin Butler on what ‘Elvis’ taught him about fear

By JOCELYN NOVECK
AP National Writer

Austin Butler has taken some flack for holding onto his Elvis accent long after actually playing Elvis. But the 31-year-old breakout star of Baz Luhrmann’s flamboyant biopic says he’s taken away something much more significant from making “Elvis”: a new relationship with fear. Butler, nominated for the best actor Oscar and already holding a Golden Globe and a BAFTA, told The Associated Press after earning his Oscar nod that he suffered from “impostor syndrome” while making the film and the fear almost ruined him, until he learned to use it as a “compass.” Now, he says, he asks himself what he’s terrified of and then tries to walk toward it, not away from it.