The SAG Awards, as the pre-Oscar awards presented by the Screen Actors Guild are called, saw Brendan Fraser as one of the top contenders for the Academy Awards, winning last February in the Best Actor category.

However, Austin Butler, who has come a long way since his beginnings as a Disney boy over 10 years ago, could surprise this Sunday by winning the Best Actor award at the 2023 Oscars for his portrayal of Elvis.

In the past 10 years, eight SAG winners in this category have also won an Oscar. That same number is repeated in Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor.

Who’s competing for Best Actor?

Fraser, from The Mummy to The Whale

Brendan Fraser underwent a true transformation. The actor had to thicken up 130 kilos and submit to it every day 5 or 6 o’clock makeup before filming; Just taking that step to become an obese man after being an admired and muscular actor is one more point to get the Best Actor award at the 95th Oscars. Fortunately, not everything was fat, as the actor had to undergo complex makeup for several hours to maintain that body during filming.

The actor plays Charlie, an English teacher, a lonely man suffering from morbid obesity, trying to reestablish contact with his daughter in search of forgiveness.

Elvis, by Austin Butler

In addition to their talent and love for acting, Butler says they have been three years of his life where he has essentially breathed into becoming the iconic Elvis Presley. Not only did he have to learn breathing techniques to give body and voice to the king of rock ‘n’ roll, but he couldn’t stop talking like Elvis. Which has earned him multiple comments like he couldn’t have released the character.

Irene Bartlett, one of the actor’s voice coaches during the filming of “Elvis”, assures that “the voice is a muscular phenomenon. So, like an athlete, if you overdo it when you’re too young, or try to impose a sound that isn’t natural to that voice, eventually that voice will tire and you’ll get into trouble.

Butler has had to develop a body that looks, hears, feels and talks like Elvis Presley, stands out in 20 minutes. For this reason, the detailed study of the movements of the authentic Elvis, understanding his physicality on and off stage, has enabled the actor who embodies him to deeply capture this iconic and unmistakable voice. “I tried to live his life as long as possible. That helped me not feel like a scammer when I got on set. I spoke with that voice in my daily life, when I ordered coffee (…) I wouldn’t face all characters this way, but with this one I felt it was necessary”.

Colin Farrell for “The Ghosts of the Island”

Set in 1923 on a fictional remote island off the west coast of Ireland, Pádraic (Colin Farrell) is abruptly and surprisingly rejected and cut off from communication by Colm (Brendan Gleeson), his best friend.

The film won a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and was nominated for nine Oscars. You should see what happens next Sunday with the Best Actor award.