Austin Butler reveals the 'fundamental influence' his father had on him growing up
Austin Butler's father had a "fundamental influence" on him growing up that changed his life in a positive way.
Austin Butler's father had a "fundamental influence" on him growing up.
The 33-year-old actor recalled that when he was a child, his dad David exhibited a type of lifestyle that affected him in a positive way and ensured he developed a passion for the outdoors.
He told The Times: "My dad’s a very practical man. His lifestyle has influenced me on a fundamental level. When I was growing up, he would take me to Arizona, where my grandparents lived.
"That variety [my father] showed me by helping me ride a motorbike, ride horses or going to the countryside."
Austin started his career as a teenager with small appearances on shows such as 'Hannah Montana' on Disney Channel opposite Miley Cyrus and Nickelodeon's 'Zoey 101' with Jamie Lynn Spears before he became a mainstream Hollywood star in movies such as 'Elvis'.
But Austin lost his mother Lori in 2014 when she passed away following a battle with cancer, and admitted that he almost gave everything up because he had "never experienced pain" like the grief he felt.
In a roundtable interview for The Hollywood Reporter, the 'Eddington' star recalled: "After my mom passed away, I’d never experienced pain like that before, and I started to question. Suddenly I was around doctors and people that were hurting a lot in hospitals, and I thought, 'Is acting a noble profession? Should I be doing this or should I give myself in some way that can help people who are dealing with cancer or something like that?'
"After my mom passed away, I went straight to New Zealand to start shooting a young adult TV show.
"A lot of people enjoyed the show, and I had fun doing horseback riding and that sort of thing, but I’d go home and cry every night. I was dealing with grief, but it was also this feeling that I wasn’t aligned with something that felt truly fulfilling. I got done with that show, once they cancelled it after two seasons, and I said, 'I would rather not work as an actor than ever do something like that again.'"
