Vanessa Hudgens, who dated Austin Butler for nine years, has reacted to the actor’s seemingly permanent Elvis voice in a telling post. Photo / Getty Images
Vanessa Hudgens, who dated Austin Butler for nine years, has reacted to the actor’s seemingly permanent Elvis voice in a telling post. Photo / Getty Images
Austin Butler’s ex-girlfriend Vanessa Hudgens has seemingly thrown shade on the actor’s Elvis Presley accent.
The High School Musical star, who dated the Elvis actor for nine years until 2020, took the unusual step of publicly reacting to a story about Butler’s viral “new” voice – in which he appears to have adopted Presley’s vastly different pipes after playing him in Baz Luhrmann’s 2022 biopic.
Hudgens, 34, commented on an Instagram post of an article quoting a voice coach claiming Butler’s Elvis voice could linger “forever”.
In just one word, Hudgens said it all.
“Crying,” the actress and singer wrote on the post.
Butler’s voice became a key talking point from the Golden Globes earlier this month, where the 31-year-old picked up the Best Actor – Drama award for his portrayal of Presley.
Viewers were left scratching their heads when Butler, whose accent was previously a standard California one, continued to embody the late King of Rock ‘n’ Roll’s Southern twang despite filming wrapping more than a year ago.
After it went viral on social media, he offered an explanation.
“I had three years where that was my only focus, so I’m sure there’s pieces of him in my DNA and I’ll always be linked,” Butler said.
“I don’t think there’s anything I didn’t see or watch or listen to, truly. I read every book that was written on his life, I listened to every audio interview he gave, every bit of footage and home footage. Everything,” he told Access Hollywood.
“I liken it [his voice] to when you live in another country for a long time - you end up soaking it in and it becomes apart of your DNA, in a way.”
Austin Butler in Baz Luhrmann's 2022 film 'Elvis'.
Interestingly, it was actually Hudgens who planted the seed in Butler’s mind that he was the perfect fit to portray Presley in a movie.
In a resurfaced interview from Hudgens’ TV appearance on Live with Kelly and Ryan in 2019 while the duo were still together, the Princess Switch star said: “Last December, we were driving along and we were listening to Christmas music, and an Elvis Presley Christmas song came on.
“He’d just dyed his hair dark – he’s a natural blonde – and I was looking at him and he was singing along, and I was like: ‘Babe, you need to play Elvis.’”
After Hudgens’ famous five-year relationship with her High School Musical co-star Zac Efron came to an end in 2010, the star went on to date Butler from 2011 until their shock split in early 2020.
The pair rarely talk about their past relationship when asked in interviews.
Butler has been dating US supermodel Kaia Gerber – the daughter of Cindy Crawford – since late 2021.
Hudgens, for her part, has been in a relationship with baseball player Cole Tucker since August 2021.
