50 God-Tier Acting Moments Buried in Bad Movies
7. Austin Butler - Elvis
Out of all the movies to be nominated for Best Picture so far this decade, Elvis is arguably the worst. Baz Luhrmann's visually stunning yet utterly hollow Elvis Presley biopic is a monument to self-indulgence and an infuriating case of style-over-substance. It offers up beautiful visuals without ever offering anything dramatically engaging, while Tom Hanks gives an arguably career-worst performance as Presley's manager, Colonel Tom Parker.
Nevertheless, it would be criminal not to give credit to Austin Butler, who gives an undeniably fantastic performance as Presley. He threw himself into the role so much that he was still speaking in Presley's accent long after production wrapped, and his commitment to the part absolutely comes through in the final film.
As well as being an absolute dead ringer for the King himself, Butler's performance beautifully combined grand-standing charisma with all the vulnerability and turmoil lurking beneath the surface, giving the movie the only semblance of emotional depth it ultimately had. Butler might've started out in Nickelodeon and Disney Channel shows, but make no mistake: this guy is a serious acting talent and could easily be on track to win an Oscar one day.