5 reasons why Austin Butler (‘Elvis’) will win the Best Actor Oscar

Nick Bisa
·3 min read
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Ever since Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis” premiered at the Cannes Film Festival back in May of 2022, the movie has been gaining momentum. The film’s shining star, Austin Butler, has been showered with recognition reaping a whopping 27 nominations in the Best Actor category, including BAFTA where he won. He has also taken home a slew of breakthrough performer trophies. Here are five reasons why he could win the Oscar.

He’s embodying an icon
Of the top 10 contenders in our Best Actor odds, Butler is the only one who portrays a real-life fellow. And this isn’t just any regular Joe, it’s Elvis Presley… the highest selling solo recording artist of all time. Even if academy voters don’t recognise Butler from his previous body of work, his association with such an icon will make it easy for them to remember and recognise him.

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He’s portraying a real-life person
In the past decade, seven of the Best Actor Oscars went to those playing a real fellow. Furthermore, four of these figures were influential icons: Abraham Lincoln (Daniel Day-Lewis, “Lincoln”, Stephen Hawking (Eddie Redmayne, “The Theory of Everything”), Winston Churchill (Gary Oldman, “The Darkest Hour”) and Freddie Mercury (Rami Malek, “Bohemian Rhapsody”).

He’s in a box office hit
“Elvis” earned a 94% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and an A- Cinemascore. This acclaim powered the box office staying power of “Elvis,” with a domestic gross topping $150 million. By comparison, the combined gross of the films starring his two main rivals, Colin Farrell and Brendan Fraser, is under $10 million.

He’s starring in a film that will have wide support from the academy
Our odds predict “Elvis” will also reap bids for Best Picture, Production Design, Costume Design, Makeup and Hairstyling, That passion for “Elvis” greatens Butler’s winning chances in Best Actor.

He won over critics who didn’t like the film
As is the case with every Baz Luhrmann film, “Elvis” is not for everyone. But despite one’s thoughts on the film as a whole, Butler’s praise is almost unanimous: “powerful” (Ann Hornaday, Washington Post); “show-stopping” (Robert Daniels, RogerEbert.com); “immaculate” (David Ehrlich, Indiewire); “a star-making turn” (Richard Lawson, Vanity Fair); “phenomenal” (Todd Gilchrist, AV Club). And those are pulls from negative critic reviews of “Elvis.”

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