Baz Lurhmann has revealed why he didn’t cast Harry Styles as the king of rock and roll in his upcoming biopic on Elvis Presley. The Australian director, often considered one of the 21st century’s great auteurs, has had a good run in cinema over the last 30 years. Having directed Moulin Rouge!, Romeo + Juliet, and The Great Gatsby, it’s fair to say he’s been somewhat of a prolific and influential presence in film since bursting onto the scene with his debut Strictly Ballroom in 1992. However, it’s been some time since he last graced the screen, with Elvis, due out on the 24th of June, being his first attempt in nearly 10 years.

Lurhmann tends to attract a fair bit of scrutiny and excitement wherever his talents wander, such is his reputation, but the lengthy lay off period and ambition of his latest proposal seems to have stirred up quite the frenzy of interest even by his standards. The main question on everyone’s lips – who’s got the cojones to play Elvis Presley?

The answer to that question is Once Upon A Time In Hollywood actor Austin Butler, a somewhat left field and surprising choice from Luhrmann considering the actor’s fairly unknown profile, however one that is paying off judging by the early reviews and praise his performance is garnering. There were some big names going for the role though, most notably none other than the British mega star Harry Styles.

Recently appearing on the Fitzy and Wippa podcast this week, Baz Luhrmann explained that whilst Styles is a “really talented actor“, he was simply too culturally iconic in his own right to work for the role: “Harry is a really talented actor. I would work on something with him. The real issue with Harry is, he’s Harry Styles. He’s already an icon.“.

Going on to further explain why Austin Butler had the edge he said “The thing about Austin was that he will tell you himself, I didn’t pick him: It’s as if he was drawn, like the role drew him in because he was almost born to play it. You know, we can talk about it now, he loses his mom at the same age that Elvis did. He sends a video to me of this thing and… It just happened like two years of non-stop living and breathing as Elvis. He’s now going through a sort of deprogramming thing because it’s been a long time since he’s known who he was.”

You can catch Elvis in cinemas across the UK from June 24th.