The Reason Austin Butler Did Not Credit Ex Vanessa Hudgens for His Role in Elvis
Austin Butler is setting the record straight.
Over a year after receiving criticism for not acknowledging his ex-girlfriend Vanessa Hudgens‘ role in inspiring his drive to play Elvis—instead referring to her as a “friend”—the 32-year-old is addressing the issue.
“Oh, yeah, I learned a lesson with that one—I felt that I was respecting her privacy in a way and not wanting to bring up a ton of things that would cause her to have to talk,” Austin told Esquire in an article published on Feb. 6. “I have so much love and care for her. It was in no way trying to erase anything.”
While the Dune: Part 2 star later clarified that Vanessa—whom he dated from 2011 to 2020—inspired him to pursue the role of Elvis Presley in the Baz Luhrmann-directed movie, he initially told a condensed version of the story.
“I was going to look at Christmas lights with a friend,” Austin—who has been dating Kaia Gerber since 2022— said during the Hollywood Reporter‘s Actors Roundtable last January. “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.'”