11 Actors Who’ve Played Elvis Presley In Movies & TV Shows

Elvis Presley Has Been Portrayed By A Countless Number Of Actors Over The Years

So many actors have played Elvis Presley since his death. Which stands to reason, since he was one of the most recognizable celebrities in history. Naturally, people are endlessly entertained by movies and TV shows about “The King of Rock and Roll.”

Many of these projects have been entirely focused on Elvis’ life and career. But because he was such an influential figure in music and history, he’s sometimes featured as a side character in another person’s story.

RELATED: ELVIS PRESLEY’S PRIVATE HOME MOVIES SHOW SOME OF HIS FAMILY MEMORIES

It would take ages to rattle off all of the actors that have ever played Elvis. So we’ve included 11 of the most popular portrayals here in this list!

Kurt Russell

Kurt Russell played Elvis in the 1979 film Elvis. It was directed by John Carpenter, and marked the start of a long partnership between him and Kurt. John went on to direct four more movies starring Kurt, including The Thing and Escape from New York.

Elvis was released just two years after Elvis’ death. With that being the case, all eyes were on Kurt to see how he’d do in the film. His performance was well-received and even earned an Emmy nomination.

Don Johnson

Don Johnson stepped into Elvis’ blue suede shoes in the 1981 movie Elvis and the Beauty Queen. The movie shows Elvis post-divorce from Priscilla Presley. It follows the story of his subsequent relationship with Linda Thompson (played by Stephanie Zimbalist).

In real life, Elvis and Linda dated for four years.

Dale Midkiff

Dale Midkiff took his turn playing Elvis in the 1988 TV movie Elvis and Me. The film is based on Priscilla’s autobiography of the same name.

Michael St. Gerard

Michael St. Gerard has actually played Elvis more than once. He first portrayed the King in the 1990 miniseries Elvis.

It seems Michael made a good impression with his performance in the series. He went on to play Elvis again in Great Balls of Fire, Heart of Dixie, and Quantum Leap.

Peter Dobson

Peter Dobson is another actor who’s had the honor of playing Elvis throughout his life. He’s even played Elvis impersonators!

But Peter’s most memorable portrayal of Elvis was arguably in 1994’s Forrest Gump. Peter was only in the movie for a brief moment, but the scene played a pivotal role. That’s because it shows a young Forrest inspiring Elvis to dance just like him…resulting in Elvis’ signature dance moves.

Tyler Hilton

Johnny Cash was the main character in 2005’s Walk the Line. The Man in Black” and “The King” crossed paths several times throughout their lives, so it naturally made sense for Elvis to appear in Walk the Line too.

Tyler Hilton played Elvis in the film.

Jack White

White Stripes singer Jack White’s portrayal of Elvis is much more comical than any other actors’ mentioned previously in this list. He played Elvis in the 2007 movie, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.

Walk Hard is a comedy inspired by musical biopics such as Walk the Line and Ray. Because of this, Jack’s performance as Elvis was over the top and mashed multiple eras of Elvis’ behavior into one portrayal.

Michael Shannon

Before he played George Jones in George & Tammy, Michael Shannon portrayed Elvis in the 2016 movie Elvis & Nixon. Like Jack White in Walk Hard, Michael’s portrayal of Elvis was on the humorous side.

The movie was definitely a unique take on the Elvis story, as it focused specifically on Elvis’ meeting with President Nixon…which actually happened in real life!

Drake Milligan

Drake Milligan got his start performing as an Elvis impersonator. He was then cast to play Elvis in a 2014 short project called Nobody.

But Drake’s most popular performance as Elvis was in the 2017 CMT series Sun Records. He later went on to compete on American Idol and America’s Got Talent, and placed third on the latter show.

Austin Butler

Austin Butler earned immense praise for his performance in the 2022 Baz Luhrmann-directed movie Elvis. Both Priscilla and Lisa Marie Presley were vocal in their support for Austin.

“Austin Butler channeled and embodied my father’s heart and soul beautifully,” Lisa Marie said. “In my humble opinion, his performance is unprecedented and FINALLY done accurately and respectfully.”

Austin earned a Golden Globe Award for his performance and also received an Oscar nomination.

Jacob Elordi

Actor Jacob Elordi portrayed Elvis in the 2023 movie Priscilla. The film draws inspiration from Priscilla Presley’s autobiography, with Cailee Spaeny starring as Priscilla alongside Jacob as Elvis.

Hear Jacob speak about his experience stepping into Elvis’ shoes in the interview clip below.

Which one of these actors do you think did the best job at playing Elvis Presley?