In 2019 and 2020 I worked intensively with Austin Butler on Elvis’ voice and idiolect for about 9 months. Accents are hard, but tackling an utterly iconic voice like Elvis’ multiplies the degree of difficulty by, oh, say, a factor of a hundred.
I’ve spoken often about how important accents are to actors and audiences alike, and how we don’t always get the amount of time and support we need to really nail them. (We = dialect coaches and the actors we’re working with.) Elvis—and Austin’s extraordinary performance—are a testament to what can be accomplished when a gifted and dedicated performer is given the time and support needed to do this work properly. I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out, and with all the recognition Austin has received for his beautiful, compassionate, soul-deep portrayal.
There’s been a bit of “discourse” around Austin’s voice and accent, post-filming, with some corners of the internet alleging that he “can’t shake” the “Elvis voice.” I think this is largely nonsense. I’m generally wary of speaking to the press about specific projects, both because the work a dialect coach does with actors is private—even intimate—and also because it’s often hard to tell if a writer has a particular agenda, and it’s ridiculously easy for the story to get garbled. At the same time, I do really want people to understand this work a little bit better: what goes into it, why it’s hard, why it’s important, how it works, why we still need to do better as an industry in getting actors appropriate time and support for this ultra-challenging but ultra-important task.
Luke Winkie, a writer for Vox, approached me about my work with Austin, and I felt confident he’d tell the story straight. I hate the headline of the piece that resulted, “Why Austin Butler still sounds like Elvis, explained by his own vocal coach.” After all, the main point is that he doesn’t still sound like Elvis. But I doubt Luke is responsible for the headline, and I’m pretty happy with the piece as a whole. If you’re interested in reading more, you can find it here:
https://www.vox.com/culture/23672646/austin-butler-elvis-accent-vocal-coach-erik-singer