Austin Butler remembered his late mother as part of his 'Saturday Night Live' opening monologue.
Austin Butler honours his late mother in SNL speech
The 31-year-old actor fronted the NBC variety show on Saturday (17.12.22) and explained that he was a "really shy kid" but would "do anything" to entertain his mom Lori - who died in 2014 following a battle with cancer - and she eventually served as his inspiration to enter showbusiness.
He said: "I was a really shy kid. Like, really shy. But luckily, my mom decided to home-school me and my sister, so I was also weird. Since we were home-schooled, sometimes my mom would say, 'We're taking the day off, and we're going to Disneyland!' And we'd be so excited. But then by like the ninth time that she did that, I was like, 'I don't think mom knows how to teach. Some of my favorite memories from growing up are watching 'SNL' with her. And we'd watch it every week. I do ridiculous faces and voices, I did this ridiculous Gollum impression. My mom -like all mons - was a huge Gollum fan! Being silly with her is what broke me out of my shell and the core of what started me in acting."
The 'Elvis' star went on to reflect that although his mother is no longer here, she had been in his thoughts a lot in the run-up to his appearance on the show and wondered how "proud" she would be that he is now hosting the high-profile television show after being so shy as a child.
He added: "My mom is no longer with us. But I've been thinking about her a lot this week, just imagining how proud that her. just imagining how proud she'd be of her son who used to not be able to order food for myself at a restaurant is now standing on this stage. And tonight, just know that anytime you see me doing a silly voice or making a funny face, that's for you, mom!"
Tagged in Elvis Presley Austin Butler