Austin Butler Honors The Late Lisa Marie Presley At The BAFTAs

Before this award, Butler, the Elvis star had attended the Golden Globes in the company of Lisa Maria Presley and Priscilla Persley, where he also received the award of Best Actor.

Sadly, Lisa Marie died 54 days later after a cardiac arrest episode. The news of her death was confirmed by her mother, Priscilla Presley.

Butler, 31,  admitted he felt "privileged" to be accepted in Presley's family and disclosed how close he had become with the family, especially Lisa Marie via interviews.

Paying tribute to her at events has become a tradition and he went on with that practice at BAFTAs press room after his win, says Variety.

He won the honors, beating out other contenders.

Other actors who were up for the nominations are Colin Farrell for The Banshees of Inisherin, Paul Mescal for Aftersun, Bill Nighy for Living, Brendan Fraser for The Whale, and Daryl McCormack for Good Luck to You, Leo Grande.

Using his usual Elvis drawl, he commenced his speech and called his win “truly extraordinary.”

He stressed that he doffs his hat to all the nominees and cherishes the time they spent together during the award seasons. Butler continued and further thanked everyone, starting from his movement coach to his assistant director, who assured him every day that the film would be spectacular.

"This film would not have been possible without you," he said while thanking director Baz Luhrmann for his immense support.

Butler rounded up his speech by appreciating the Presley family, saying “I cannot thank you guys enough for your love and sharing with me who Elvis truly was.”

 "I hope I have made you proud. Thank you all so much!" he finalized the speech.

He didn't fail to recognize Lisa Marie’s demise in the press room, revealing, "it’s been an unimaginably tragic time, you know, and grief is a long process."

"And so my heart and my love was with the Presley family always. I feel honored to have been welcomed into the family. It’s a bittersweet time," he summed up. "How lucky I was to get to have that experience of playing an icon like Elvis Presley," Butler recounted.

He didn't fail to mention how playing Elvis made him feel. "The feeling of being on a global stage 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 feeling," he declared.

He also stresses missing the people he made the film with and how they have now become a family to him. "I really miss them a lot." He mentioned.

Subsequently, he has been nominated for his Impeccable and Stellar performance in a Leading Role at the Screen Actors Guild Awards next week and the Oscar Best Actor.

Butler has been criticized a lot of times for keeping his  Elvis accent to accept the several awards he has won.

According to US Magazine, Irene Bartlett, his voice coach, defended the cold switching, saying his accent is authentic and might remain forever.

However, the Elvis star has revealed to Graham Norton, a show host, that he has been struggling to stop speaking with the accent for almost two years after the film production was completed. He further explains why the accent is still intact. He mentioned that he might have damaged his vocal cords from all the singing because one song required 40 takes.