Some are newcomers. There are some former child actors who are reprising themselves in adult roles. And there is a comedian who is making the leap to the big screen. These are just a few actors who are all set to rock films this summer,
Austin Butler in “Elvis”
How familiar you are with Austin Butler will have a lot to do with your age. For a certain demographic, Butler, who starred on Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, The CW and ABC family shows between 2007 and 2012, is one of the most recognizable faces on the planet.
But Butler is about to reach a different level this summer, when audiences get a glimpse of the 30-year-old as Elvis Presley in the new Baz Luhrmann production, which hits theaters June 24. To say that his preparation was intense is an understatement.: he spent just five months with Luhrmann before he was officially offered the role (which, incidentally, was the day before the premiere of “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”, where he stole several scenes as a Manson follower) .
“I threw my eggs in a basket,” said Butler. “I told my agents not to send me another audition. I said I can’t focus on anything else. If I hadn’t got it even after investing so much, it would have been a really big problem.”
The film centers around Presley’s complicated relationship with his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, played by Tom Hanks. When Butler arrived in Australia to shoot, he had a typewriter in his room with a note from Colonel Tom Parker (both were from Hanks). And throughout production, they sent letters to each other in character.
“From the moment I first met him, he broke down the barriers of what can happen when you meet your hero,” Butler said. “He gave me a big hug, we talked for a bit and then he started talking about his fear, how nervous he was. He said, ‘I can only imagine how nervous you are!’ I said, ‘I’m scared.’ And then we had to be coworkers.”
And yes, Butler kept the typewriter.
Keke Palmer in “No”
Keke Palmer began acting at the age of 9, and many years later had her first major breakthrough starring in “Aquila and the Bee”. She’s released music albums, hosted talk shows, and has worked pretty much non-stop since then. So while he’s not a newcomer by any stretch, Palmer is also ready for a second big moment as an adult actor this summer.
The 28-year-old was chosen by Jordan Peele to star opposite Daniel Kaluuya in his cryptic new thriller ‘Knope’ (July 22) and a lead role in Disney’s ‘Lightear’ (June 17), which she said was special. The look is surreal and funny ever since she grew up with the “Toy Story” movies.
Palmer couldn’t reveal anything about “Knope,” but did tease that her character was “a combination of a few different fanatics” and “a very honest character transitioning before us and coming of age.” is.” As an aspiring writer-director himself, he is delighted to have the opportunity to learn from Peele on set and is excited for people to see the film. The spotlight of a Jordan Peele production is a new sensation for them.
“In the place in my career that I’m completely comfortable with, am I going to be the kind of entertainer where it’s like some people I grew up with and others are like, who is Keke Palmer? ”, she said laughing. For those who have never heard of me, introduce me through me. It might be more that I have some fun going back and seeing where I come from. ,
Andrew Cozy in “Bullet Train”
Andrew Cozy has his mom to thank for two of his biggest breaks ever. She is the one who filmed her auditions in a garage in England, both for the television shows “Warrior” and “Bullet Train”, which opened on July 29.
“Bullet Train” is one of the most anticipated releases of the summer: an action-packed thriller from director David Leach (“Deadpool 2”) starring Brad Pitt, Joy King, Bad Bunny, Brian Tyree Henry, Sandra Bullock and Cozy Is.
He was already excited about the project and working with Leach, then heard that Pitt had signed as well.
“It felt surreal because I never really put him and me in the same world,” Koji wrote in an email. “I never thought my career path would ever cross his.”
Koji’s play is Kimura, one of the original characters from Kotaro Isaka’s popular book.
“He is going through a lot when we first meet him, and it gets worse for him throughout the film. He is a troubled beaten soul who boards a train in search of redemption,” Koji said. “His intent is to play and balance the more comically lighter tones and characters in the theatrical core of the film.”
Although Koji received martial arts training, he didn’t actually use those skills to “bullet train” much. But he had to maintain his stamina.
“I ended up shooting two different scenes this whole day side by side. I was running back and forth from the other unit, working on an intense fight…” That was a real rush, I was that loved the day. It was one of my favorite days of filming.”
Joe Coe in “Easter Sunday”
A Netflix comedy special is always bound to get a lot of viewers and maybe even create some new opportunities. But comedian Joe Koyu Never dreamed that one of them would come from Steven Spielberg.
The story, Coe said, is that Spielberg caught “Comin’ in Hot” one night and asked Coe to pitch a film idea. Thankfully, he had something on his mind: a family comedy inspired by his own Filipino American family gathered for the holiday. The result is “Easter Sunday” (August 5) in which he stars alongside Lou Diamond Phillips, Tia Carrere and Tiffany Haddish.
“It’s about a family and it’s all chaos and madness and love on a single Easter Sunday,” Coe said. “It’s a normal family in America. It’s something you’ve seen before. The only difference is that my mom is from the Philippines.”
Growing up without the Internet, he said, he was never quite sure if anyone who saw him on screen was Filipino. Often they would be playing from different races and ethnicities and their names in the credits were usually of little help. That’s why he clearly wanted to show the Filipino story. And it was an emotional experience for many. Some actors even told her that in three decades of work, she had never played a character that had ever been written as Filipino instead, for example “Asian woman who can sing”.
“You get to learn a little bit about our culture. You get to learn a little bit about what we eat, how we look.” “I’m not here to make fun of the Filipinos. I’m not trying to make them do goofy things or be clowns. It was an opportunity to tell our story, be funny as a family, and make people laugh at that.”
Cooper Raff in “Cha Cha Real Smooth”
Writer-director-actor Cooper Raif is only 25 years old and already has two indie darlings under his belt. his first One was made on a shoestring and attracted some attention on the festival circuit. But his second feature “Cha Cha Real Smooth” (June 17 on Apple TV+) is set to take him to another level. In the film, he plays a recent college graduate working as a party starter on the bar mitzvah circuit, where he meets and befriends a single mother, played by Dakota Johnson.
“I wanted to make a movie about that feeling when you’re swimming in a post-grade delirium and two people helping each other get stronger for two different phases in your life,” Raff he said. “This is a kid who’s really good at starting other people’s parties, but doesn’t know where to start to start his own party.”
Johnson was deeply involved in the development of the script and the production of the film, which was done through his production company Teatime Pictures.,
“She really wanted to be a part of things every step of the way and I die for her,” Raff said. “I really felt like she wanted to work together, even when we were thinking about blocking or where the scene should go or what it’s really saying.”
Raif is currently working on his next, even bigger film. But this time, he said, he’ll probably be behind the camera.
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