Austin Butler took his agent to the Oscars to thank him for his career.
Austin Butler took his agent to the Oscars instead of his girlfriend
The 31-year-old actor opted not to walk the champagne carpet at Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre on Sunday (12.03.23) with girlfriend Kaia Gerber because he had asked his “best friend” and career representative James Farrell along as a gesture of recognition for his support over the years.
Speaking on ABC’s Oscars pre-show, he said: "I've got my best friend here with me, who is also my agent.
"And I owe my career to him, so as a thank you, I wanted him to be by my side tonight."
Austin admitted being at the Oscars “felt like a dream come true”.
He added: “I can't believe I'm here right now.
"It's just celebrating with all these beautiful people. The thing that I didn't realise ahead of time was the community that you build in these months leading up to tonight.
"I just feel so honoured and happy to get to celebrate with everybody."
Meanwhile, the first-time nominee – who lost out on the Best Actor in a Leading Role accolade to ‘The Whale’ star Brendan Fraser – also admitted the late Lisa Marie Presley was on his mind after they grew close while making the biopic about her father.
He told ‘Entertainment Tonight’: “I’m carrying a lot of her with me tonight.”
Austin revealed one of the things he was most proud of with ‘Elvis’ was how it had brought The King to a new generation.
He said: “The fans that I've gotten to talk to -- these 12-year-old kids who told me that it changed their life and they’re playing the guitar now.
“It’s just brought joy to a little kid, that’s just such a privilege to get to be a part of something that can affect somebody in a positive way like that."
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