Austin Butler is clearing the air about the time he referred to his former longtime girlfriend Vanessa Hudgens as simply a "friend." The viral moment occurred during The Hollywood Reporter's 2023 Actor Roundtable — when the 'Elvis' actor shared he was encouraged to play the King of Rock 'n' Roll through "a friend." At the time, social media was in a tizzy because it was clear he was talking about Hudgens, who shared the similar story during Live with Kelly and Ryan while discussing THR's casting article announcing Butler's role as Elvis.
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00:00 "She said, 'I'm serious, you gotta figure out how you can get the rights to a script
00:04 and like write something and do Elvis' life.'"
00:07 "Who's this friend?
00:08 I need the number."
00:09 "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll give you the number."
00:10 Austin Butler is clearing the air about the time he referred to his former longtime girlfriend
00:15 Vanessa Hudgens as simply a "friend."
00:18 The viral moment occurred during The Hollywood Reporter's 2023 Actor Roundtable, when the
00:23 Elvis actor shared that he was encouraged to audition for the king of rock and roll
00:27 through a friend.
00:28 "There was an Elvis Christmas song on the radio and I was with a friend of mine and
00:32 I was singing along and my friend kind of looked over at me and goes, 'You gotta play
00:37 Elvis.'"
00:38 At the time, social media was in a tizzy because it was clear he was talking about Hudgens,
00:42 who shared the similar story in other interviews.
00:44 "We were listening to Christmas music and an Elvis Presley Christmas song came on and
00:49 he had just dyed his hair dark, he's a natural blonde blonde and I was looking at him and
00:53 he was singing along and I was like, 'Babe, you need to play Elvis.'"
00:57 Many fans felt he was downgrading the role she played in his life.
01:01 Now in a cover story for Esquire, Butler is finally explaining why he referred to her
01:05 that way at the time.
01:07 "I felt that I was respecting her privacy in a way and not wanting to bring up a ton
01:11 of things that would cause her to have to talk.
01:13 I have so much love and care for her.
01:15 It was in no way trying to erase anything."
01:18 Butler currently has Masters of the Air on Apple TV+ and Next stars in Dune Part 2, out
01:23 in theaters March 1.
01:25 For more on this interview, head to THR.com.
01:29 And for the latest entertainment news and updates, keep watching The Hollywood Reporter
01:32 News.
01:33 Thanks for watching!
01:35 (upbeat music)