Yahoo News Austin Butler Credits Ex Vanessa Hudgens for 'Believing' He Could Play Elvis: She Had a 'Clairvoyant Moment'
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Austin Butler is crediting ex-girlfriend Vanessa Hudgens for manifesting his Elvis success.
The newly minted Oscar nominee also won a Golden Globe this month for his portrayal of Elvis Presley in Baz Luhrmann's Elvis film. Butler, 31, told the Los Angeles Times that Hudgens, 34, encouraged him to seek out the role years ago when they were a couple, and he thanked her for her support.
"We'd been together for so long and she had this sort of clairvoyant moment and so I really, I owe her a lot for believing in me," he said.
Butler also confirmed that it was Hudgens he was referring to as a "friend" in the recent Hollywood Reporter Actors Roundtable, when he was retelling how she encouraged him to pursue Presley. When asked by the L.A. Times if he meant Hudgens, he clarified, "That's right," adding: "I was with my partner at the time."
He hadn't mentioned Hudgens by name in the THR conversation that debuted earlier this month.
"The month before I heard that Baz was making the movie, I was going to look at Christmas lights with a friend, and there was an Elvis Christmas song on the radio and I was singing along, and my friend looked over at me and goes, 'You've got to play Elvis.' I said, 'Oh, that's such a long shot,' " Butler said at the time.
RELATED: Vanessa Hudgens Reacts to Joke About Ex Austin Butler Continuing to Speak in Elvis Presley Accent
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
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"A couple of weeks later, I was playing the piano," he continued. "I never really sang for any of my friends or anything. That same friend was there and I was playing the piano. She said, 'I'm serious. You gotta figure out how you can get the rights to a script.' Then my agent called and said, 'So Baz Luhrmann is making an Elvis film.' "
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Fans pieced together, though, that Hudgens shared a nearly identical story years ago when the two were still together.
"Last December, we were driving along and we were listening to Christmas music, and then an Elvis Presley Christmas song came on," Hudgens said on a 2019 episode of Live with Kelly and Ryan. "He had just dyed his hair dark. He's a natural blond, and I was looking at him and he was singing along and I was like, 'Babe, you need to play Elvis.' "
Just like Butler mentioned, Hudgens continued by adding how she insisted he audition after hearing him sing more of the iconic rock-and-roller while playing the piano.
RELATED VIDEO: Austin Butler Had 'No Idea How' Elvis Presley's Family 'Were Going to Respond' to His Portrayal
"Then in January, he was sitting at the piano," she said. "And he's playing and he's singing and I'm like, 'I don't know how, but you need to figure out how you can play Elvis. Like, I don't know how we get rights or what we do, but you need to play him.' "
Butler and Hudgens were spotted together for the first time in 2011 at Ashley Tisdale's sister's birthday party, and made public appearances at red carpets after that. When it was publicly announced that Butler would be taking on the role of Elvis in July 2019, Hudgens shared her support in an Instagram post.
"I AMMMM OVERRRR THE F—— MOOOOOOOOONNNNN. I CAN'T WAIT 😍😍😍😍😍😍 SO PROUD OF MY HONEYYYYY!!!" she wrote at the time.
A source confirmed to PEOPLE that the two broke up shortly after, officially splitting in January 2020, citing demanding work and travel schedules. Both have since moved on, Butler with model Kaia Gerber, and Hudgens with pro baseball player Cole Tucker.
