The 2023 Golden Globes took place on Jan. 10, and like most award shows, immediately became fodder for memes and running jokes on the internet. One of the biggest moments to unintentionally get some laughs during the night? Austin Butler’s voice during his winning speech, which some people recognized as the voice he used in Elvis.
Butler took home the coveted award for Best Actor in a Drama, Motion Picture for his portrayal of Elvis Presley in Baz Luhrmann’s 2022 biopic, Elvis. Butler not only received critical acclaim for his acting in the film, but was also drawn into the conversation on method acting for the, um, kind of extreme lengths he went to to prepare for his role. In a Variety interview with Janelle Monáe, the star revealed he would only speak in the King’s accent, and that he didn’t even see his family for three years while he was in Australia for the film.
He had so much dedication to the role, in fact, that he apparently was bedridden for a week after filming wrapped. He spoke of an identity crisis as well, telling GQ, “You can lose touch with who you actually are. And I definitely had that when I finished Elvis — not knowing who I was.”
He even addressed the change in his voice after Elvis during a red carpet interview with Laverne Cox the night of the Golden Globes, saying it was “hard for [him] to talk about” because he’s still so closely connected to the role and character. Backstage, NME reported that Butler responded to comments about his voice, and even though he claimed he doesn’t think he sounds like Elvis anymore, he added, “I often liken it to when somebody lives in another country for a long time and I had three years where that was my only focus in life, so I’m sure there’s just pieces of my DNA that will always be linked in that way.”
Still, that didn’t stop the internet from having some fun with his seemingly put-on accent — people were searching for what his voice sounded like before Elvis, reminiscing on his pre-Elvis work like The Carrie Diaries, and just generally cracking jokes about the situation. Here are some of the funniest tweets about Butler’s Elvis voice, whether you loved it or hated it.