Photo: Michael Kovac/Getty, Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty
Austin Butlerrecently retold a story involving ex-girlfriendVanessa Hudgens, referring to her as a friend.
DuringThe Hollywood Reporter’sActors Roundtable, the Golden Globe winner, 31, revealed it was a “friend” who encouraged him to pursue the role of Elvis Presley inElvis.
“The month before I heard thatBaz [Luhrmann]was making the movie, I was going to look at Christmas lights with a friend, 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.’ I said, ‘Oh, that’s such a long shot,’ " Butler said.
“A couple of weeks later, I was playing the piano,” he continued. “I never really sang for any of my friends or anything. That same friend was there and I was playing the piano. She said, ‘I’m serious. You gotta figure out how you can get the rights to a script.’ Then my agent called and said, ‘So Baz Luhrmann is making an Elvis film.’ "
While Butler didn’t specifically name Hudgens, 34, in the interview, the actress shared a nearly identical story years ago when the two were still together.
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“Last December, we were driving along and we were listening to Christmas music, and then an Elvis Presley Christmas song came on,” Hudgens said on a 2019 episode ofLive with Kelly and Ryan. “He had just dyed his hair dark. He’s a natural blond, and I was looking at him and he was singing along and I was like, ‘Babe, you need to play Elvis.’ "
“Then in January, he was sitting at the piano,” she shared. “And he’s playing and he’s singing and I’m like, ‘I don’t know how, but you need to figure out how you can play Elvis. Like, I don’t know how we get rights or what we do, but you need to play him.’ "
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Butler and Hudgens were spotted together for the first time in 2011 at Disney costarAshley Tisdale’s sister’s birthday party, and made public appearances at red carpets after that. When it was publicly announced that Butler would be taking on the role of Elvis in July 2019, Hudgens shared her support in an Instagram post.
“I AMMMM OVERRRR THE F—— MOOOOOOOOONNNNN. I CAN’T WAIT 😍😍😍😍😍😍 SO PROUD OF MY HONEYYYYY!!!” she wrote at the time.
A source confirmed to PEOPLEthat the two broke up shortly after, officially splitting in January 2020, citing demanding work and travel schedules. Both have since moved on, Butler with modelKaia Gerber, and Hudgens with pro baseball playerCole Tucker.
source: people.com
