“Spent some time thinking about it”: Austin Butler on his Chicago accent in ‘The Bikeriders’

Washington [US], June 19 (ANI): Actor Austin Butler, who is seen playing the role of Benny in the American crime drama film ‘The Bikeriders’, shared how he prepared for his role and learned the right accent to depict his character on-screen, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Austin, who plays Benny, a member of the club who falls in love with Kathy, played by Jodie Comer, said that while learning and understanding his character’s Chicago accent, “I spent some time thinking about it beforehand; I wanted to figure out where Benny fits into the tapestry of the film, how thick to go with the dialect,” he shared.

‘The Bikeriders’ is a 2023 American crime drama film written and directed by Jeff Nichols. The story revolves around the 1960s Midwestern motorcycle club The Vandals and how a bunch of local outsiders transforms into a violent gang. It features not only a lot of bike riding but also a lot of accents. It stars Jodie Comer, Austin Butler, Tom Hardy, Michael Shannon, Mike Faist, and Norman Reedus.

The characters of the film is based on real people inspired by the 1967 photo book by Danny Lyon depicting motorcycle club Outlaws MC.

Butler added, “Once I’d heard Jodie’s audio of the real Kathy, then I tried to find something that felt suited to that. So I feel like I went subtle with it, but I worked with a dialect coach just to kind of do that work.”

The actor, who has always tried to give his best. The star, who is known for his extreme voice work portraying Elvis in Baz Luhrmann’s 2022 film ‘Elvis’, shared that in doing this film, “the difference is when you’re playing someone that everybody knows, there’s the pressure to where you know that people can watch interviews with that person, so it puts a different kind of responsibility on it.”

Writer-director Jeff Nichols shared that each actor, who is part of the film had a different approach to their voices.

“Austin’s character there were no audio examples of, so I gave him examples of other people talking and he kind of had to absorb the world around him and come up with a voice that kind of fit his own body and his own character,” Nichols continued.

‘The Bikeriders’ also stars Norman Reedus, Mike Faist and Beau Knapp, as per The Hollywood Reporter.