Harry Styles reveals he's at peace with not getting lead role in Elvis biopic

The Baz Luhrmann-directed Elvis biopic arrives in cinemas next month, and while speaking on The Howard Stern Show on Wednesday (18 May), Harry Styles spoke about auditioning for the lead role, which was given to Austin Butler.

"Elvis was probably the first person I knew besides my family when I was a kid," Styles told Stern. "For that reason, there was something incredibly sacred surrounding him, so I thought I should try to get the part."

Styles continued, "I feel like if a director feels like I’m not the best person for the role then it’s better for them and it’s better for me. If they think the movie’s going to be better with someone else then I don’t want to do it because I don’t want to be the not-as-good version."

He first revealed that he had auditioned for the lead role in an interview with The Face magazine in 2019, and said, "There was something almost sacred about him, almost like I didn’t want to touch him. Then I ended up getting into [his life] a bit and I wasn’t disappointed."