It’s easy to fall in love with Austin Butler. He has dashing blue eyes, completely packed with hair, and is the king of direct eye contact. And as two of this year’s films (Eddington and Catching Theft) have more on the horizon, he clearly has a schedule as intense as his stare.
Today’s steal is yet another bullet to his already impressive resume. Zoe Kravitz also stars in the film, directed by Darren Aronofsky, where Butler plays former baseball player Henry Thompson, who finds himself entangled in the crime world of New York City.
He previously played Elvis in a biopic of the same name and was nominated for an Academy Award. Next came Beekelder and the Cult’s favorite sand dunes: Part 2. Earlier this year, Butler played a role in the A24 Western Comedy/Thriller Eddington. When we met, he had just finished filming an enemy in another A24 Crime Saga, across from Jeremy Allen White in Chicago. And somehow he found time to appear in YSL Beauty’s recent campaign for MySLF fragrance.
Below, he shares the secrets of his surviving night filming, naming his bestsmell co-stars and highlights the importance of loving himself.
You are in a fragrance game now. Which character smells best? worst?
I remember talking about Priscilla and Elvis wearing Cologne. So I think he probably smells good. The dune fade lauta probably smells like tar and gunpowder. Benny from Beekarders…you know, I also like the smell of gasoline. I know it’s probably a bad thing to smell it. Grease and gasoline, they each have their own. Find me just by smelling smoke.
Who is your best scented co-star?
Jeremy Allen White and I just did this movie together (the enemy of the A24 spice thriller). He smells nice. I don’t know what he’s wearing, but it’s a combination of beautiful scents and fresh tobacco smells.
You’ve been filming at night in Chicago for your enemies. Was it difficult to adapt to that schedule?
Chicago is a beautiful city. It really has a big city feel, but at the same time it feels like a small town. I’m used to being up all night and sleeping all day for the last and a half months, so I’m feeling jet lag now. All your circadian rhythms are off.
I bought a blackout curtain for the window and had a white noise machine to drown out the sound of the sirens outside. But I got home and as the sun was rising, my body was going, “Now, it’s time to wake up.” So I decided to eat and then watch a movie or something. I don’t sleep until the 8th or 9am.
What do you like about YSL Beauty’s MySlf Absolu Fragrance?
I’m a fan of Woody scents, but this also has a more subtle floral scent, especially orange flowers. I grew up in Orange County, California and had an orange tree in my backyard. That’s a personal connection for me. The people who designed the scent taught us the story of Yves St. Laurent, Morocco. And there are all these orange trees too.
Do other scents from your childhood stay with you?
Slips with water smell on grass. It quickly returns to the vivid memories of the hot summer growing and sliding down in the front yard.
By stealing, you play a former high school baseball player. Before that, how much did you know about sports?
As a child, I was too shy to actually play team sports. They tried to get me into baseball and I went home crying. I said, “I don’t want to be around those other kids.” I used to go to Angels games with my parents as a child. Then I moved to LA in the early years of puberty and had the Dodgers. I have very happy memories of sitting on the stands with my mother and having a Dodger dog. We were always in our seat long ago. I loved it.
What do you like about yourself?
I’m learning over time. It’s difficult to be a person (lol). Understanding how to love yourself is extremely important. I’m curious and open, trying not to be too stiff. I’m interested in others. It removes this question from itself, but (I am my) curiosity.
A version of this story is featured in the October 2025 issue of Elle.
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