Trivia / Elvis (2022)

• Actor-Shared Background: In the Japanese dub, the titular protagonist is voiced by Daisuke Ono, who is also a professional singer in his own right.
• Approval of God:
  • Priscilla Presley, Elvis' ex-wife, and Lisa Marie Presley, Elvis' only daughter, both gave their seal of approval to the film. On her Facebook, Priscilla called it "a true story told brilliantly and creatively", praising Butler's performance as "outstanding"; Lisa described it on her Twitter as "nothing short of spectacular" and "absolutely exquisite", specifically noting that "Austin Butler channeled and embodied my father's heart & soul beautifully."
  • Priscilla also gave her approval to Olivia DeJonge's portrayal of her and assisted her with it throughout the production.
  • His granddaughter, Riley Keough, was similarly positive:
    "In the first five minutes, I could feel how much work Baz and Austin put into trying to get it right. That made me emotional immediately. I started crying five minutes in and didn't stop. There's a lot of family trauma and Generational Trauma that started around then for our family. I felt honored they worked so hard to really get his essence, to feel his essence. Austin captured that so beautifully."
• California Doubling: The film is set in America but was filmed entirely in Queensland, Australia.
• The Danza: Tom Hanks plays Colonel Tom Parker (although that wasn't his real name).
• Dawson Casting: Tom Hanks, who is in his sixties, plays Colonel Tom Parker beginning when Parker would have been in his forties.
• Deleted Role: An unspecified actor was hired to play Richard Nixon in what the director described as a "whackadoo" scene, though any scene involving Elvis meeting Nixon was ultimately cut from the film.
• Dyeing for Your Art:
  • Austin Butler underwent such intense voice training that since playing the role, the Elvis character has left a permanent mark on his regular voice, which has even led to some ridicule online.
  • Also, literal dyeing: Austin Butler, like Elvis himself, naturally is blond, so dyed his hair black.
  • Tom Hanks shaved his head to play Colonel Tom Parker, most notably wearing a wig in the first act, depicting Parker's thinning hair when he meets Elvis before appearing without it for the rest of the film.
• Fake American:
  • Except for the two lead actors, the entire cast is made up of Australian actors playing Americans, most notably Olivia DeJonge as Priscilla and Richard Roxburgh as Vernon Presley.
  • Zigzagged with actor Tom Hanks & his character Colonel Tom Parker. At first Parker is played as an American so the trope doesn't apply, but later Parker turns out to actually be Dutch, not an American citizen, and faking the "Colonel" persona. So Parker's playing the trope straight In-Universe, but it's actually inverted as applied to the work: Hanks (an American) turns out to be playing a non-American character. ^note Interestingly, Hanks played the role with a recognizable accent, while the real Parker was so good at faking his Americanism that he didn't have an accent, and managed to pass as an American for decades before he was caught.
• Fake Nationality:
  • American Tom Hanks plays Colonel Tom Parker, who was originally from the Netherlands (but was basically a Real Life Fake American who kept his true identity hidden).
  • Canadian Hank Snow is played by Australian David Wenham.
• Method Acting: Austin Butler spent three years preparing for the role, connecting intensely with Elvis after learning he and the singer both lost their mothers at the age of 23. He dressed in period-appropriate clothing when rehearsing and attending voice lessons and also worked so hard on nailing the voice that he hasn't been able to completely shed the deeper tone and accent he used in the film. He also said that he got so deep in character that he lost touch with himself for a number of months.
• Playing Against Type: The famously lovable Tom Hanks plays the selfish and manipulative Colonel Tom Parker, whose only moments of kindness are acts of shrewd calculation designed to benefit him.
• Release Date Change: Originally set for release on October 1, 2021, the film was delayed to November 5 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic before being pushed back again towards a final release date of June 23, 2022.
• Troubled Production: Production was suspended two months into filming after Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. In fact, Hanks getting the virus made him, as he himself put it on Saturday Night Live at Home, a canary in the coal mine for the disease. Shortly after this, the global lockdowns started, which meant production couldn't resume until six months later. A number of recastings occurred during the production delay, and Hanks' and Wilson's infamous infections would end up worked into the plot of the movie Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, with the two appearing as themselves.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ansel Elgort, Miles Teller and Harry Styles were considered for Elvis Presley before the casting of Austin Butler.
  • Maggie Gyllenhaal and Rufus Sewell were originally cast as Elvis' parents, but due to the production delays and scheduling issues caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic, they were replaced with Helen Thomson and Richard Roxburgh when filming started up again.

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