Austin Butler honors Lisa Marie Presley following BAFTAs win for 'Elvis' role: 'It's a bittersweet time'
Elvis and Priscilla Presley's only daughter, Lisa Marie, died in January at the age of 54
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Austin Butler paid tribute to Lisa Marie Presley after winning best actor at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards for "Elvis."
Following his big win at the Royal Festival Hall in London, Butler admitted he felt "honored" to be welcomed into the Presley family and was also grieving Lisa's death.
Lisa Marie died in Los Angeles on Jan. 12 at the age of 54.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It’s been a really unimaginably tragic time, you know, and grief is a long process," Butler said, via Variety. "And so my heart and my love was with [the Presley family] always.
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Austin Butler paid tribute to Lisa Marie Presley on Sunday at the BAFTAs in London. (Getty Images)
He added, "I feel honored to have been welcomed into the family. It’s a bittersweet time."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The 31-year-old actor reveled in the chance to play the iconic singer, and didn't take for granted how close he was to actually walking in Elvis' shoes.
"How lucky I was to get to have that experience," he said. "The feeling of standing on an international stage and looking out and looking down at the jumpsuit that I was wearing and realizing there were certain moments where I was seeing the closest thing to what Elvis would have seen during his ’68 Special or whatever that was, and I miss it a lot. I miss that experience."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He added, "I don’t miss the terror. But I felt every day that the elation that you feel with that. And I miss the people that I got to make the film with, they became completely like family to me. I really miss them a lot."
Austin Butler poses with the award for Leading Actor after winning BAFTA for "Elvis." (Ian West)
Austin Butler and "Elvis" director Baz Luhrmann celebrate Austin's BAFTAs win. (Dave Benett)
Austin was a surprise winner at the BAFTAs, in a category alongside Brendan Fraser for "The Whale," Colin Farrell for "The Banshees of Inisherin," Bill Nighy in "Living," Paul Mescal in "Aftersun," and Dary McCormack in "Good Luck to You, Leo Grande."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Butler is also nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in the Baz Luhrmann-directed film.
Elvis sold over 500 million records worldwide in his decades-long career and is recognized by Guinness World Records as the best-selling solo artist of all time.
Riley Keough, Harper Lockwood, Priscilla Presley, Austin Butler, Lisa Marie Presley and Finley Lockwood at the "Elvis" premiere in Memphis. (Eric Charbonneau)
Lisa Marie was the only daughter of Elvis and Priscilla and had a half brother, Navarone Garibaldi, from Priscilla's 20-year relationship with Marco Garibaldi.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}She was buried at Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee, two weeks after her death. Elvis is also buried at Graceland in addition to Lisa Marie's late son, Benjamin Keough.
Elvis lived at the family home from June 26, 1957, until his death on Aug. 16, 1977.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Lisa Marie Presley's last public appearance was at the Golden Globes on Tuesday, Jan. 10. (Joe Scarnici)
Lisa Marie's last public appearance was with Priscilla at the Golden Globes to witness Butler win a Globe for the biopic about the King of Rock 'n' Roll.
She is survived by her daughter, Riley Keough, from her first marriage to Danny Keough. She also has twins Harper and Finley with ex-husband Michael Lockwood.
Her son, Benjamin Keough, died by suicide in July 2020 at the age of 27.
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