Austin Butler still mourns the late Lisa Marie Presley despite her latest award-season win.
Butler, 31, said his win for Best Actor in Elvis at the 2023 BAFTA Awards was a “bittersweet moment” following the unexpected death of Lisa Marie in January at 54.
After she won, Butler told reporters in the newsroom, “It’s really been an incredibly painful time, you know, and grieving is a long process,” according to Variety. “As a result, the Presleys have always been in my heart.”
“I’m happy to be part of the family,” he continued. The situation is “bittersweet”.
In an interview with reporters, the actor explained how lucky he was to play Elvis Presley in the biopic Elvis, for which he later received a Golden Globe and a BAFTA. “I miss the feeling of being on an international stage, looking out, looking at the suit I was wearing and realising that there were some moments where I was closest to what Elvis would have seen in his ’68 Special or whatever was, Butler said of the movie experience.
Speaking at the 95th annual Oscar-nominated luncheon in Beverly Hills, California, the actor said he and Lisa Marie “bonded really, really fast.”
“And all those beautiful moments spent only with her, I will always love him,” he concluded.
“There was no filter on how he felt because he was such an honest person,” Butler said of Elvis Presley’s daughter. “And she immediately welcomed me into her heart.”
On Jan. 24, shortly after the Oscar nominations were announced, the actor appeared on Today with Hoda and Jenna. He described her nomination for the role as “kind of a bittersweet event right now” in light of Lisa Marie’s death. “I wish he was here to celebrate with me,” the actor said. I wish they could be present at these events as I want Elvis to be.
“It just feels weird to rejoice in such a sad time of mourning,” he said. “However, I see it as a way to commemorate her somehow. She will understand.
