How Composer Elliott Wheeler Scored the Man Behind the Legend for ‘Elvis’ [Video]

It’s no denying that Elvis Presley was a giant. The box office success of the Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis proves how much audiences were clamoring to see Austin Butler shaking and gyrating as the icon. With a catalog of hits, how does one write music to accompany such a huge life? Frequent Luhrmann collaborator, Elliott Wheeler, yanks us back to a time before Elvis took the stage, and he reveals how important music was to the man behind the legend.

Wheeler was involved with Elvis very early on, and that helps with the musical language of the film. He wrote selections of music when Elvis is not performing in front of a crowd, and the nearly three hour long film only has a 2-minute section without any music playing at all. It was important to Wheeler to establish how Presley needed music to survive, and his score feels like Presley’s heartbeat.

In our chat, Wheeler and I not only discuss helping the audience look at Presley as simply a man, but he talks about Austin Butler’s dedication to the role. In some instances, we forget we are watching an actor inhabiting a beloved figure. You can tell how much this role means to him, and Wheeler’s music helps with that electric pulse.

Elvis is streaming now.