Austin Butler took a page from Ryan Gosling’s book while prepping for “Elvis.”
After Butler heard about Gosling microwaving Häagen-Dazs ice cream and drinking it to gain weight for a role, he tried the “awful” diet for himself.
“I started doing that,” the 31-year-old recalled in a clip from Variety’s upcoming “Awards Circuit” podcast episode, out Friday.
“I would go get two dozen doughnuts and eat them all,” he explained. “I really started to pack on some pounds.
“It’s fun for a week or so, and then you feel awful with yourself,” Butler, who ended up wearing a bodysuit for scenes, continued.
The actor also went to extreme measures to change his voice for the critically acclaimed 2022 film, admitting earlier this month that he “probably damaged” his vocal cords in the process.
Butler has been trolled on multiple occasions for still using the King of Rock and Roll’s southern twang long after the movie’s release — including by his ex-girlfriend Vanessa Hudgens.
The “High School Musical” star, who dated Butler from 2011 to 2019 and had encouraged him to audition for the role, reacted to an Instagram post in January about her ex going to “the Lady Gaga school of Oscar campaign acting.”
Hudgens, 34, commented, “Crying.”
Butler has repeatedly addressed the backlash, telling the Los Angeles Times last month that his “muscular habits” were to blame.
“If I was trying to sound like Elvis, I would sound very different right now,” he said at the time, calling jokes about his voice “amusing.”
Angela Bassett, who played Tina Turner in 1993’s “What’s Love Got to Do With It,” recently stood up for Butler in a New Yorker interview, admitting she experienced a similar struggle.
“Tina’s laugh and the way she spoke took over [until] … maybe about four months after,” Bassett, 64, explained. “It takes a moment to get back to regular you.”
As for Butler’s voice coach, Irene Bartlett, she has predicted that his accent will remain “forever.”
Bartlett called the Oscar nominee’s manner of speaking “genuine” and “not put on” in a January interview with ABC Gold Coast, adding, “It’s difficult to switch off something you’ve spent so much focus [and] time on.”
