-I'm so happy to meet you, and thank you so much
for coming on the show.
You hit a home run with this movie, buddy.
I can't even tell you what a great job you did.
We saw it. We screened it the other night.
You're fantastic in this movie.
-Thank you. -Congratulations.
It was so good.
I want to get down to all the details
and ask you all the questions.
Here's some of the reviews, by the way, just so you know,
if you want to plug your ears.
But one says that, "When Austin Butler shakes his hips
in Elvis's first gig as a full blown rock and roller,
it's like watching two stars being born."
That was time out. I like that one.
[ Cheers and applause ]
"Vanity Fair" says, "It may well be
a star making turn for Austin Butler."
And I agree with that. And then this one's my favorite.
"Entertainment Weekly" says.
"Austin Butler stares down the lens and melts it."
I've never heard that. Melted.
But I did feel that when I was watching the thing --
Baz Lurhmann did such an amazing job directing.
-Yeah, he did. I'm so proud of everything he's done.
-Yeah. -It was incredible.
-Did you feel -- When you were auditioning, when you knew
that there's an audition for "Elvis" and you're like,
"I'm close to it," did you get nervous?
Did you always know Elvis?
-Yeah. -You did?
-Yeah, it's terrifying.
But it's that thing where it's --
I mean, it's the biggest responsibility I've ever felt.
You feel such a responsibility to him, to his family,
to all the people around the world who love him so much.
And so, it's terrifying.
But it's also the thing where as an actor --
like, the actors that I always looked up to when I was a kid,
my dad always had Turner Classic Movies in the house,
and so "Raging Bull" and "East of Eden"
and "On the Waterfront" and all those,
so, I was always like, "What did they do?"
And so, it's always been about the challenge.
So, I leaned into that as much as I could.
-But then once you got cast as Elvis,
do you go like, "Okay, now I got the gig.
Now it's really hard. I really got to get to work"?
-You feel like you're about to climb Mount Everest.
-Yeah, it really is.
And you did it perfectly.
And I can't even tell you you didn't do too much.
It wasn't too little.
Wait until you seen this performance.
I'm telling you, buddy, it was a knockout.
I mean, just even the accents that Elvis had,
the way he talked in the '50s,
the way he talked in the '60s and '70s,
like three different Elvises.
And you sang differently. And you actually sang in this movie.
-Yeah. -Yeah.
Well, I'm saying that because --
Sorry. But I mean, we've had some actors on the show.
They played parts in movies and they don't sing
and they lip sync, but you can play guitar
and you sang and you dance and move just like him.
But I mean, how did you do the accents?
How did you remember what you were doing?
-Well, you know, I mean, for one thing,
you listen to Elvis speak
and there's these amazing archives out there
of every interview he ever gave.
And that was the first thing that hit me, was
it's not just one voice of Elvis.
His voice changed so much over the years.
And so it's that thing of...
-Could you could you give us an example?
I'm sorry to put you on the spot.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-Alright, alright. I'll do it.
So, I mean, I haven't done this at all,
and it's been a long time, so take it easy on me, Internet.
Alright, so, like an example is
when he was 19
and he goes on the "Louisiana Hayride".
It's 1954. And his voice -- you know, he's nervous.
His voice at that time, you speak a lot faster
when you're nervous, and also, he was young.
And so, his voice at that point was like,
[As Elvis] Well, I'd like to say how happy we are
to be down here. It's a real honor for us
to get a chance to appear on the "Louisiana Hayride."
[ Normal voice ] It's like that.
[ Cheers and applause ]
And then, like, a couple years later, he's 21, it's 1956,
and honestly, this one I thought of earlier,
because it's how I feel right now.
It's that thing when you're not sleeping at night,
you're just buzzing.
I can't believe -- I got to take a second.
I'm on Jimmy Fallon
talking about playing Elvis Presley.
Like, you're my hero.
[ Cheers and applause ]
I just blows my mind.
I just -- Yeah. So, at this point --
So, he's 21, and at that point, he's more like -- he says --
because he's asked,
"What are you thinking about at night?"
And he says, [as Elvis] "Well,
everything's happened to me so fast in the last year
and a half.
I'm all mixed up, you know?
I can't keep up with everything that's happening."
-Yeah. It's unbelievable.
-[Normal voice] So, there's that.
[ Cheers and applause ]
And then for, like, a juxtaposition,
like, we can fast forward to '72.
Like, there's this great interview in '72,
and one of the first thing he says is...
[as Elvis] Well -- because at this point,
his voice goes more forward into his face you know,
and so, then he's like,
"Well, you know, we just came out here
from Memphis," [normal voice] and that sort of thing.
-Yea, it's coming out of the front.
-It comes out of the front of your face.
-It's like three different characters.
It's such a great love letter to Elvis
and any Elvis fans. Dude, ultimate respect.
And I was reading some article about this and you were saying
what kind of hit home to you is his love for his mother.
-Yeah. Yeah. -And now he lost his mom.
-Yeah. That was the first thing,
because when I first started approaching it,
it's that thing of Elvis is always 40 feet tall.
He's like -- you could only look up to him.
And it's hard to, in the beginning, to feel anything
but small compared to him, and all those questions.
You know, I'm a shy person.
I feel very, you know -- those moments of "Am I enough?"
and imposter syndrome and all those things.
And so, it was a process in the beginning
of just trying to find his humanity.
And I tried many things, but I watched this documentary,
and I learned that his mom passed away when he was 23.
And that's how old I was when I lost my mom.
And that hit me like a freight train,
because it's the most human thing.
Like, that grief that you feel.
And I know you've experienced, you know, that feeling.
And that's the thing where it just humanizes somebody
and you suddenly don't feel alone in that.
And so, that that became the first key
into finding his humanity.
-Yeah, you just played it perfect.
And you got to -- obviously, you had to go to Graceland,
I'm assuming, and meet Priscilla.
-That was so surreal.
The first time I went,
it was about a month after I was cast.
And Baz and I took this road trip from Nashville to Memphis
and I got to record -- the first recording studio I ever was
in was RCA, where Elvis recorded over 250-something songs.
You know, it's insane.
And so, then we drove to Memphis.
-I'm freaking out. This is unbelievable.
-Also, I was just in Graceland.
And Angie, who runs the spot, she said,
"Tell Jimmy, because I know he's a big fan,
tell him I will show him everything."
So let's take you in the archives, everything.
-Really? 'Cause I've not been.
Because I was waiting --
I want to wait for the exact right moment to go to Graceland.
-Oh, you'll get all the hookups. -Really?
-Yeah, for sure.
-Someone sent over this photo of you in the Jungle Room
playing Elvis's guitar.
-Yeah. I still am waiting for somebody to wake me up.
-I mean, wait, so how did you end up--
-Well, like they had wanted me,
you know, for social media or something.
They were like, "Well, we'll get you,
like, playing the guitar, playing a guitar."
And they were going to just have me play some random guitar
at one point. I kept putting it off
because I'm not a big social media person as well.
And then when we got to Memphis, they were like,
"We're making you do it."
And so they got some other guitar.
And Angie heard
that I was going to be playing a song, and she said,
"What guitar you playing?"
I said, "Oh, it's a 1937 Epiphone."
And she goes, "Well, I got a 56 Gibson,"
and I realize what she's saying,
and this is -- I actually didn't know this,
but that guitar is the guitar he played in
"Loving You", "Jailhouse Rock", "King Creole".
It's also the guitar -- Scotty Moore had it redone.
So, it's the same guitar he plays in
"That's the Way It Is. -No way.
-Same guitar he plays in Vegas.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-And the last person to play it in the archives
was Paul McCartney.
-Last person to play it was Paul McCartney?
Come on. What is going on? How great is that?
And what was Priscilla like? -Oh, man.
She's just the loveliest person. And when I first met her,
she said very few words,
but it was more looking in our eyes.
And you realize this is the woman
that Elvis fell in love with all those years ago,
and she still loves him to this day.
She's the mother of his only child.
And that was so surreal.
But she said a couple of things.
She said, "You have big shoes to fill."
And I said, "I know", and just -- you feel the pressure.
And then she said --
and then she gave me this big hug and she said,
"You have a lot of support." And then that was huge.
And then she said, "Have you been a Graceland yet?"
I said, "I'm about to go in for the first time."
And she said, "I truly believe that's where his spirit is."
And then I went over there for the first time
and I spent the whole day in there by myself.
And now getting to, you know, spend time with her
and be in the Jungle Room and be with Lisa Marie,
it made me feel like I was a part of the family.
It was so amazing.
Are you a dancer? I'm sorry to ask this, because --
-Oh, no. [ Chuckles ]
-I don't know. I was like, I don't know if I've seen you --
-I wasn't a singer or a dancer. -No.
You definitely dance in this.
I mean, you're just like -- You're, like, a shy person.
Like at a party, would you --
-I was always a wallflower, you know?
-Really? -Yeah.
But that was the thing, is you realize that Elvis wasn't --
he didn't do choreography
in the way that Michael did or something like that.
It was all the music moving him.
And obviously, there are signature things that he did
that, you know, you have to be specific about.
But it was all about the way that the music moved him.
-Could you show me a move? -Oh, God.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-If you can't --
-Alright. Alright. Get out here.
It's been a long time.
Alright.
From the '50s, he had this one
that was really fun. I just called it the Sidewinder
'cause you can go from walking into a side.
[ Cheers and applause ]
It's hard on the carpet. -Wait, so you start here.
-Yeah. So, basically what you're doing is like --
you know, when you move like this?
-Okay.
-But you're going to put all your weight on your right foot
and then your left foot's just going to sort of tap.
So, you go to the side first,
and then from there, you just tap to the side.
But you use this arm almost like a windmill.
-A windmill. Okay. Ready?
And this hand can almost be like
you're holding a cane or something.
So you kind of -- from the side.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-That's why he's the best.
It works exactly like "Pictionary", okay?
Except all the clues that we're guessing
are titles of popular biopics.
Okay? Now, we each have a stack of cards.
You have one. I have one. Okay? Now you're going to pick a card,
then start drawing on these iPads.
Everything you draw will be seen on the screen.
-And then we show it to each other?
-No, it's going to be seen on a screen behind us.
-Oh, wow. -Right there. Yeah.
Look at that. Is that amazing?
-Yeah. I'm not that good at drawing.
-That's alright.
Once you once you start drawing,
the other person has 20 seconds to guess.
-Okay. -Okay?
And it's the name of a biopic.
So, some biography thing. Alright.
So since you're my guess and it's your first time
on "The Tonight Show", you go first.
-I draw first? -Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, I'm gonna make it hard for you. Yeah.
Come on, partner.
-Alright. Okay. So, I look at this first?
-Yeah. -And I got 20 seconds to get it?
Alright, hold on. -Yep. No problem.
-Okay. Here we go. Oh, geez. Alright.
Horn. Bull. Chicago Bulls.
Michael Jordan.
The five -- something. "Game Five" or something.
What is it? The five... Oh, it's the devil.
-No, no, no, no. -It's not the devil.
It's a bull. No, no, no, no.
-Alright, so hold on. -Alright, sorry.
-Grr. -Is that a basketball? No.
[ Buzzer ]
-Sorry. I was totally off. -No, no.
He's angry. He's raging.
-"Raging Bull". Oh, it's --
Alright, alright. That's fine. Alright. Sorry about that.
Okay, so now you press that to clear it.
Yep. Sorry. I didn't get that one.
I was thinking the Michael Jordan one.
Okay, that's alright.
I still couldn't think of the name.
Oh, okay. Ooh. Ooh, okay. Alright. Ready?
-Yes. -Okay.
- A box.
Book?
Dollar. Dollar.
Money. Money.
Man.
Breasts. What? Arms.
[ Buzzer ]
-Sorry. Not breasts.
Sorry. That was supposed to be --
Oh, my God.
I'm sorry. -Sorry. What?
That was supposed to be a guitar. Sorry.
-Oh, geez. Guitar.
-Don't ever let him see this. Yeah, this is --
or any of the family -- that is supposed to be Johnny Cash.
-That was "Walk the Line"? -That was "Walk the Line".
Sorry about that.
Wow. How do we clear that? How do we clear that fast?
Sorry, that was a guitar
and that was a stack of cash.
-So he's making money playing the guitar.
-I figure Johnny Cash, if you said "cash".
-Oh, cash. -Yeah, we would have got it.
Yeah, but anyways, it did not look anything like a guitar.
Okay. -Alright.
So, what are we?
-We're zero-zero. Yeah. We need to get one.
Here we go. Pick up this card.
We can do it. Come on, Austin. We got it.
-[ Clears throat ] -[ Exhales deeply ]
-Okay, you got this one.
This is round two. Here we go. -Alright. Come on.
-House?
-Yes.
-Doorknob's in the middle of the door. Interesting.
Window.
-No. -No, not a window.
Oh. "House of Gucci". -Yes.
-Wow! [ Bell dinging ]
[ Cheers and applause ]
That's what I was talking about! I knew the bag!
House and the bag! That's it! Well done!
-Alright. -Lady Gaga!
Love it. Alright, bud, here we go.
Okay, now. Alright. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
We got this. We got this. We got this.
-Okay. -Alright.
Ready? -We're merging our minds.
Here we go. Alright, here we go.
Okay. I can look at that, too?
-"Lincoln"? -Yes!
-Oh, my God!
I wasn't expecting that one.
-That's the best drawing I ever did.
-That was amazing.
-That was the best drawing I've ever done.
-That was incredible.
-I've never done a better drawing in my life.
Compared to the Johnny Cash one, that's much better.
-That was good.
-♪ Uh-huh-huh ♪ -Oh, wait a sec.
That sound means it's time for the final round.
[ Laughter ]
What else would that sound mean?
So this one, you and I will be drawing together,
and we're going to try to get Questlove to guess the biopic.
-Oh. Oh.
Quest, are you good with your biopic?
-I'm good with it. Can I hear that theme again, though?
-♪ Uh-huh-huh ♪
-Alright. You got to know it. That's one of our writers.
-We both are synced to the same thing?
-We're synced to the same thing. We're both drawing
the same screen. We help each other out.
And we're gonna get Quest to guess this.
You ready for this? -Yeah.
Okay. Alright, you want to do that part?
-Yeah. -Alright.
-Alright, go.
-You gonna draw that? Oh, oh.
Yeah, yeah. So, then...
-Alright, "Rocketman"? -Yes!
[ Bell dinging ]
[ Cheers and applause ]
It's that easy. It's that easy.
Good man, Quest. Austin Butler, everybody!