When Austin Butler channelled ‘Raging Bull’ for his ‘Hannah Montana’ cameo
It has become increasingly apparent that Austin Butler puts his all into performance. Since the release of Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis in 2022, reports about his all-consuming method acting have enveloped Butler. The apparent damage he took to his vocal chords, years of not seeing his family, and a Memphis accent he can’t quite seem to shake. But the Elvis actor was committed to his craft long before he landed his role as the so-called king.
Long before Butler received a Bafta, a Golden Globe, and an Academy Award nomination, Butler found his start in the world of Disney and Nickelodeon. In the late 2000s, Butler was inescapable on teen television. He appeared as an extra in the beloved Drake and Josh, played love interests to Hannah Montana and iCarly, and eventually landed a role in Zoey 101.
Butler was hardly tackling demanding scripts or productions with these early roles, but he was already bringing unparalleled intent to set. Rather than shrugging these projects off as forgettable teen entertainment, Butler remembers showing up to the role with the ferocity of Robert De Niro in Martin Scorsese’s Raging Bull.
Reflecting on the early experience during a conversation with Backstage Magazine, Butler stated, “I look back on the Nickelodeon and Disney shows that I did; even though my skill wasn’t there, I still wanted to give the energy [as if] I was going to make Raging Bull.”
“I kept that fierce dedication toward trying to find more truth, even in things where it could be easier to just phone it in,” he concluded, in a statement that seems far too serious to relate to his dalliances with Disney and Nickelodeon. It’s difficult to find that truth-seeking in his performances, hidden somewhere amidst laugh tracks and the clichés of Disney dramas.
Butler might not have given the greatest performances of his career, but he was apparently already honing the commitment that would come to be his trademark. This method seems to have worked out for him, as he made his way up the ranks with a role in the slightly more elevated teen drama The Carrie Diaries and eventually found his way into an audition room with Quentin Tarantino, something slightly more akin to working with Scorsese.
Now taking on the role of Feyd-Rautha in Denis Villeneuve’s sequel to Dune, he’s even inspiring his co-stars with his serious approach to working. As talk continues to surround Butler’s acting prowess about his considered creative processes, remember that it all started with Hannah Montana and Zoey 101.
