Austin once related a similar incident to Vanessa Hudgens, who claimed to have given him the inspiration to play Elvis Presley in 2018.
I was going to see Christmas lights with a friend the month before I learned that Baz [Luhrmann] was directing the film, and I was singing along to an Elvis Christmas song on the radio ...
...when my friend turned to me and said, "You've got to play Elvis." I responded, "Oh, that's such a long shot," the 31-year-old said on The Hollywood Reporter's Actors Roundtable series.
The story fits with a previous tale the High School Musical alum has told, in which she did name her ex-boyfriend of eight years, despite the fact that he didn't name Vanessa and simply referred to his ex as a "friend.".
"A few weeks later," Austin continued, "I was playing the piano. I never really sang for any of my friends or anything. That same friend was there, and I was also playing the piano.
Then my agent called and informed me that Baz Luhrmann is producing an Elvis movie. You need to figure out how to acquire the rights to a script.
In a 2019 interview conducted months before their 2020 breakup, Vanessa, 34, also gave her account of the events.
She described it on Live with Kelly and Ryan: "We were driving along last December listening to Christmas music when an Elvis Presley Christmas song came on.
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Then, in January, she said, "I don't know how we get rights or what we do, but you need to play him," as he was playing the piano.
In 2019, Vanessa was "over the moon" about him getting the part in Elvis Austin and Vanessa dated seriously for eight ...
...years before breaking up in 2020. In 2019, Vanessa was "over the moon" about him getting the part in Elvis.
Austin started dating Kaia in January 2022, while Vanessa started dating baseball pro Cole Tucker in 2020.