The Shocking Reason Why Harry Styles Wasn’t Chosen To Play Elvis, According To The Biopic Director

Harry Styles is a certified triple threat— from his powerful vocals to his impassioned acting talents to choreography, as seen on his current Love On world tour. This—you might think— would give the superstar, 28, an advantage in the audition room for the new Elvis Presley biopic, but its director Baz Luhrmann said that this had the opposite effect.

During his recent appearance on the Australian radio podcast Fitzy & Wippa, Luhrmann, 59, explained that he ultimately turned down Styles for the lead role in Elvis (Luhrmann’s first film in nearly 10 years), because of the One Direction heartthrob’s immense popularity. “Harry is a really talented actor. I would work on something with him,” Luhrmann said. “The real issue with Harry is, he’s Harry Styles. He’s already an icon.”

While fans might be shocked to hear this (as he can definitely sing, dance and act and is a strong contender for many roles he auditions for), Luhrmann stressed that Styles’ many talents and status were undeniable, but he felt more drawn to Austin Butler, 30, (who ultimately won the role). “Harry and I came to a place, genuinely I mean, he was just desperate to put the suit on and explore,” Luhrmann added. “He’s such a great spirit and I have nothing but great things to say about Harry Styles.”

Luhrmann continued, explaining how he ultimately selected Butler during the auditioning process. “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,” Luhrmann noted. “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.”

The highly-anticipated Elvis hits theaters on June 23. Styles, however, has no shortage of upcoming film roles, as he is currently preparing for the release of 2 films this fall in which he stars in a lead role: Olivia Wilde’s Don’t Worry Darling and Michael Grandage’s My Policeman. Styles, who just appeared in the post-credits scene of superhero flick Eternals last year, is also expected to appear in more Marvel projects. The “As It Was” singer is also currently garnering critical acclaim for his latest record, Harry’s House (released last month), proving that while Elvis might not have been in the cards for him, many other creative endeavors were meant to be!