London, Feb 20 (IANS) ‘Elvis’ star Austin Butler paid tribute to Lisa Marie Presley following his BAFTA win for Best Actor on Sunday evening, reports ‘Variety’.
“It’s been a really unimaginably tragic time, you know, and grief is a long process,” Butler said in the winners’ press room following his win, according to ‘Variety’. “And so my heart and my love was with [the Presley family] always. I feel honoured to have been welcomed into the family. It’s a bittersweet time.”
Butler also expressed how lucky he felt to portray the legendary singer, a thought that often crossed his mind while he was making the film.
“How lucky I was to get to have that experience,” he said. “The feeling of standing on an international stage and looking out and looking down at the jumpsuit that I was wearing and realising there were certain moments where I was seeing the closest thing to what Elvis would have seen during his ’68 Special or whatever that was and I miss it a lot. I miss that experience.”
“I don’t miss the terror,” he added, according to ‘Variety’. “But I felt every day the elation that you feel with that. And I miss the people that I got to make the film with, they became completely like family to me. I really miss them a lot.”
When asked what projects were coming up next for him, Butler cited Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Dune: Part 2’ and ‘The Bikeriders’, in which he stars alongside Tom Hardy. “But right now I’m unemployed,” he said, according to ‘Variety’. “Which is exciting because it means that I get to go on vacation after March.”
Butler is also nominated for an Academy Award, with the ceremony set to take place on March 12.
–IANS
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