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Austin Butler<\/strong><\/a> will always have a burning love for ex-girlfriend Vanessa Hudgens<\/strong><\/a>. The actor has revealed why he called the High School Musical<\/em> alum a \u201cfriend\u201d while previously discussing how he got his award-winning lead role for Elvis<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, yeah, I learned a lesson with that one. I felt that I was respecting her privacy in a way and not wanting to bring up a ton of things that would cause her to have to talk,\u201d Austin, 32, told Esquire<\/em><\/a> in a Tuesday, February 6, cover story. \u201cI have so much love and care for her. It was in no way trying to erase anything. I value my own privacy so much, I didn\u2019t want to give up anybody else\u2019s privacy.\u201d<\/p>\n The Dune: Part Two<\/em> star and Vanessa, 35, embarked on a beautiful relationship from 2011 to 2020. Fans were shocked and saddened to learn about their split and the former couple has since danced around the topic of their breakup.<\/p>\n Austin discussed his Elvis role during a 2023 Hollywood Reporter Actors Roundtable conversation and revealed that Vanessa planted the seed in his head to portray the King of rock \u2018n\u2019 roll on screen. However, he referred to the Spring Breakers actress as a \u201cfriend\u201d and fans slammed him for his choice of words.<\/p>\n \u201cThe month before I heard that Baz [Luhrmann]<\/strong> was making the movie, I was going to look at Christmas lights with a friend, and there was an Elvis Christmas song on the radio and I was singing along, and my friend looked over at me and goes, \u2018You\u2019ve got to play Elvis.\u2019 I said, \u2018Oh, that\u2019s such a long shot,\u2019\u201d he explained before reflecting on the time he played the piano and sang in front of Vanessa and a group of friends. \u201cThat same friend was there and I was playing the piano. She said, \u2018I\u2019m serious. You gotta figure out how you can get the rights to a script.\u2019 Then my agent called and said, \u2018So Baz Luhrmann is making an Elvis<\/em> film.’\u201d<\/p>\n Fans called Austin out for seemingly snubbing Vanessa, who told the exact same story during a 2019 appearance on Live with Kelly and Ryan<\/em>. The California native, for her part, gushed that she knew Austin was a modern-day Elvis when he died his natural blonde locks dark brown.<\/p>\n \u201cThen in January, he was sitting at the piano,\u201d she explained during the daytime talk show. \u201cAnd he\u2019s playing and he\u2019s singing and I\u2019m like, \u2018I don\u2019t know how, but you need to figure out how you can play Elvis. Like, I don\u2019t know how we get rights or what we do, but you need to play him.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Austin couldn\u2019t shake off his Elvis accent after the biopic released in 2022, and Vanessa noticed. An Instagram account joked about Austin\u2019s Memphis accent in a caption that read, \u201cHe went to the Lady Gaga<\/strong> school of Oscar campaign acting.\u201d The Cali Water founder commented on the post, \u201cCrying.\u201d<\/p>\n Austin and Vanessa have since moved on and are in respective relationships. Us Weekly<\/em> confirmed that the Bikeriders<\/em> actor started dating his current girlfriend, Kaia Gerber<\/strong>, in October 2021. After keeping their romance out of the spotlight for a few months, Austin and Kaia, 22, went red carpet official at the Met Gala and looked blissfully in young love.<\/p>\n Vanessa entered her wifey era in December 2023 when she tied the knot<\/a> with husband Cole Tucke<\/strong>r in Tulum.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n