Baz Luhrmann talks the journey to making ‘Elvis’

BAZ Lurhmann is known for glamorous takes on damaged characters as we have seen on Moulin Rouge and The Great Gatsby. He is back with a new film – Elvis, which spans three decades of Elvis Presley’s life.

You are known for discovering talent or breaking talent out in a way that no one's seen before. What did you spot in Austin Butler that ignited the spark for you?

Well, it was one of the most unusual roads to a casting, in that I think Austin found me in a sense. Look, he'll tell you, too, that there are some remarkable sides to his story. I mean, they are almost spiritual. They're almost hard to believe. This is a young man with incredible empathy who was told he should play Elvis early on.

But really early on in our process, our casting director said, “There’s this great tape that came in”. She played it, and I remember he did something unusual – where most people just come up on the screen, he started with his back to the camera, this young guy playing piano, and then the camera went around him. He was playing Unchained Melody and he was full of such intense emotion. I thought: “Wow, what's that? Boy, he can sing.” In that moment, from the get-go, it was very Elvis, he had a very Elvis soul about him.

Maybe that’s your gift, seeing that alignment between the artist and the character?

My point of view is that auditions are terrifying, so when someone walks through my door, no matter what the general opinion in the room might be, I make it my personal mission to do everything I can to get them the job.

Tom Hanks always seems to play a good guy or is always sort of the guy you root for. What did you see in him that said Colonel Tom Parker to you?

It was a very unusual experience because when you go to a high-end actor like that, it invariably takes a long time to take them down the road of what you’re going to do, talk them through the process. I went and visited Tom at his office, and I told him about the Colonel, and he was really attentive. I had a video and all these props to sort of show why the way I’m going to do the film, and I had a reel on the Colonel, and about 40 minutes in he just said: “Well, if you want me, I’m your guy.”

What did you see in Olivia Dejonge that made you know you had found your Priscilla?

That was unusual, too. My friend and long-time writing collaborator, Craig Pearce, he did a show called Will, which is about Shakespeare. He said: “Oh, there’s this remarkable young actor.” I remember thinking of that, then when the auditions came up, the tape came in and he said: “Oh, that’s that young actor!” From the get-go, everyone had the opinion that Olivia should play Priscilla. What she had was this kind of naivete that was necessary for the early part of the relationship, but that she could evolve the character through many years until she arrived at the evolved woman, somewhat the adult in the relationship.

Elvis was an iconic musician but no matter the subject, the connection you have to music in all of your films is significant. This film includes several artists from the era and from the area Elvis grew up in.

Well, I didn't want to do a few things. One, a biopic – this is not a biopic. Two, I didn’t want it to feel nostalgic. And three, I just’ wanted to tell this epic story. The epic story really is about America in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s and about these two great gestures, which is the sell and the show, the showman and the snowman. You can’t tell that story if you don’t deal with the issue of race, particularly if you’re doing music. Elvis is at the centre of culture for the good, the bad and the ugly in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s.

I spent time in Memphis and eventually, after a long period, managed to track down an older African-american

man, Sam Bell, who just passed last year, but who, along with some other boys, hung out with Elvis when they were about 13.

It's incredibly important to understand how much Elvis loved gospel above all other music. He gravitated toward it, he would stay up after doing two shows in Vegas and sing gospel. It’s what made him a very spiritual person to the end.

In the film, you have artists like Yola, Shonka Dukureh, you

have Alton Mason and Gary Clark Jr and Kelvin Harrison Jr. What attracted you to not only put their voices in the film, but to also put them on screen as these respective legends that they play?

I love featuring these incredible contemporary artists, because somewhat like in Gatsby, you will hear classic Elvis, and the young Elvis will be sung by Austin, and the older Elvis will be sung by Elvis. But you also hear, at moments, translations – whether it’s Big Mama Thornton’s Hound Dog with Doja Cat, or other superstar artists. My credits are very unusual credits. As the last statement in the film is about Elvis’s continuing influence on culture and music, I’ve chosen some super star acts to make tribute all the way through to the very last credit. I hope the audiences will find it worthwhile to stay to the very end.

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