The set of Elvis was fairly the dance social gathering. Cinematographer Mandy Walker revealed that filming Austin Butler’s dance scenes as Elvis Presley required simply as a lot dancing behind the digicam.
“Considered one of my largest challenges on this film was to bop with the digicam with Elvis,” the 60-year-old director of pictures solely advised Us Weekly on the 2023 Oscars crimson carpet on the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday, March 12. “And so from his very first workshop with Baz [Luhrmann], I used to be there with a digicam taking a look at angles on him, what appeared most like Elvis, but in addition, simply to have the ability to transfer with him and we each really feel snug collectively. So, there was a choreography between after I had 5 cameras on stage with him and he felt snug doing his strikes that we had been there with him and we had been shifting in live performance.”
Not solely was she dancing, however so was the remainder of her crew. “Oh my God, my guys — a few of my workforce — had been standing off to the aspect working, wiggling their bottoms,” Walker hilariously added. “I beloved it.”
Each Walker and Butler — whom she known as “a beneficiant collaborator” and “a sort particular person” — had been each up for Finest Cinematography and Finest Actor in a Main Function on the awards ceremony, respectively. Directed by Luhrmann, 60, the biopic scored a complete of eight Oscar nominations however did obtain any wins.
If Walker had gained, she would have made historical past as the primary lady to win within the Finest Cinematographer class. She advised Us that she was each “ready to win [and] ready to lose,” however that inspiring different ladies in her area was what she was essentially the most enthusiastic about.
“It might simply be so encouraging to different ladies who’ve wished to pursue my profession and be enthusiastic about it and know that, that there’s potentialities,” she shared. “And in addition, there’s nonetheless solely seven p.c of cinematographers are ladies. So I need to encourage extra ladies to get into it.”
Whereas she continues to function an inspiration to ladies within the leisure trade, Walker acknowledged that she is usually impressed by Luhrmann. “The perfect collaboration I’ve ever had is with Baz Luhrmann as a result of he’s a visionary and a terrific collaborator,” the Oscar nominee stated on the crimson carpet. “To work on a workforce with him could be very inspiring and rewarding.”
She additionally dished some behind-the-scenes details in regards to the movie, together with that the whole film was filmed in her and Luhrmann’s native nation, Australia. “We additionally shot on stage. And we shot Graceland there and Beale Avenue, we created it, and recreated all of the live performance sequences in a stage,” she revealed to Us. “So, we by no means went to any theaters. We made them from scratch.”
When requested if there’s something followers could be stunned to study main man Butler, 31 — who misplaced out on the Finest Actor Oscar to The Whale star Brendan Fraser — Walker stated what you see is what you get.
“He’s only a very type, beneficiant particular person and he works so onerous and I simply really feel like he was the right alternative for this,” she stated of The Carrie Diaries alum, earlier than noting that she was rooting for him to win that evening.
Elvis wasn’t the one movie to not obtain any Oscars wins, as fellow Finest Image nominees Tár and The Banshees of Inisherin additionally ended the evening empty-handed.
Join Us Weekly’s free, day by day publication and by no means miss breaking information or unique tales about your favourite celebrities, TV exhibits and extra!
With reporting by Hannah Kahn
