Elvis: Kelvin Harrison Jr. on B.B. King & Austin Butler’s Performance

With writer-director Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis opening in theaters this weekend around the world, I recently got to speak with Kelvin Harrison Jr. about playing B.B. King in the biopic. During the interview, Butler talked about what he was surprised to learn about B.B. King and Elvis while prepping for the role, his reaction seeing Austin Butler as Elvis on set for the first time, why he was blown away by his performance, his reaction seeing the finished film for the first time and the way Luhrmann edited the movie, and more. As you can see in the trailers, Elvis is about the complicated relationship between Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks) and Elvis Presley. The film tells Elvis’ story from Parker’s point of view, and it spans over two decades and includes Presley’s rise to fame against the backdrop of the evolving cultural landscape and loss of innocence in America. Butler is superb in the role and actually sings Presley’s early songs in the film. His performance alone is reason to see the film. Elvi