Austin Butler’s voice coach shares his ‘Elvis’ accent could ‘be there forever’

Austin Butler’s voice coach, Irene Bartlett, came to the actor’s defence after he was criticised for still sounding like Elvis Presley during his 2023 Golden Globes acceptance speech.

“What you saw in that Golden Globes speech, that’s him. It’s genuine, it’s not put on,” Bartlett said on ABC’s Gold Coast on Monday, January 16, 2023, via Page Six.

Butler had received his first award for his first-ever nomination at the Golden Globes, for portraying the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll in the Baz Luhrmann-directed biopic, Elvis.

When the accent became a topic of conversation after it continued to resemble the famed musician, Bartlett, for her part, defended Butler’s technique and said it wasn’t being done for show.

“I feel sorry people are saying that, you know, it’s still acting [but] he’s actually taken [the voice of Presley] on board,” she said.

“I don’t know how long that will last, or if it’s going to be there forever.” She also noted, “Because of COVID shutdowns, he was working on it all the time and it’s difficult to switch off something you’ve spent so much focus [and] time on,” she said.

Explaining her strategy on how she was able to train Butler, she shared, “Basically what I look for is what their natural singing voice is doing. I strip away all the effects someone is putting on, and I go, ‘What does this natural voice sound like?’ And what is working and what needs help in terms of enhancement, in terms of support, flexibility, stamina, all those things,” via Page Six.