Baz Luhrmann Passed On Harry Styles Starring In ‘Elvis’ Because “He’s Already An Icon”

Harry Styles and Elvis Presley are both pop-culture sensations who crossed over to movies after wildly successful music careers. But for “Elvis” director Baz Luhrmann, their status as generational icons made Styles a poor choice to play The King in his new biopic.

READ MORE: ‘Elvis’ Review: Baz Luhrmann Turns Raw, Gyrating Machismo Into Charisma That’s Just Loud [Cannes]

EW reports that in a recent talk with Australia’s “Fitzy & Wippa” radio show, Luhrmann stated that he considered Styles for the starring role as Elvis in his latest film but ultimately went with Austin Butler instead. So, why didn’t the director choose Styles? Well, Styles is already too big of a superstar, and his presence would work against the film’s structure.

“Harry is a really talented actor. I would work on something with him, [but] the real issue with Harry is, he’s Harry Styles,” Luhrmann said on the radio program. “He’s already an icon. Harry and I came to a place, genuinely I mean, he was just desperate to put the suit on and explore. He’s such a great spirit and I have nothing but great things to say about Harry Styles.” So, it’s not about whether or not Styles has the chops to play Elvis, but rather his status as a heartthrob would have taken away from the story about Presley Luhrmann wanted to convey.

Instead of Styles, Luhrmann went with Austin Butler, who the director discovered in an unconventional manner. “[Butler] found me,” Lurhmann told EW in an earlier interview. “I received this videotape of this young man in a flood of tears playing ‘Unchained Melody’ and I thought, ‘Wow, what is that? How is that happening?’ And then I got a call from Denzel Washington, who gave me a cold call. I did not know Denzel. And he said, ‘I’ve just worked with this guy on stage. I’ve never seen a work ethic like it.’ And I’m like, ‘Okay, I must see him.'” And the rest is history. “Elvis” had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival last month and, amid generally positive reviews, most critics highlighted Butler’s outstanding performance. Read our review of the film here.

Luhrmann continued about Butler, “Honestly, I put him through the wringer, but he lived Elvis. What he’s managed to do is not do an impersonation, but to live Elvis, to the extent that he’s humanized him.” That’s certainly not what Styles would have brought to the role had he been cast. He’s already so well-known that the audience would likely only see Styles doing an Elvis impersonation, and not an actor embodying the role.

In any case, Harry Styles’s acting career marches on. He stars in Olivia Wilde‘s upcoming “Don’t Worry Darling,” out this October. He’s also in Tom Burgess‘s “My Policeman,” out in limited release sometime this Fall. Meanwhile, catch Austin Butler in Luhrmann’s bejeweled, operatic ode to The King when “Elvis” hits theaters on June 24.