Q&A with Austin Butler

by Tammi Tischmann

How old were you when you got into acting? How did it happen?

I was about 12 or 13 when I fell into doing background work. It was such a great learning experience. I got to be on sets with very little responsibility and just observe. I quickly realized that I wanted to be an actor; it was the first thing I felt undeniably passionate about. I was a very shy kid, but I started going to acting classes and slowly broke out of my shell. Then I got a manager and agent and started auditioning. 

Which do you prefer - acting, modeling, or singing?

I sing for fun, but acting is my first priority at the moment.

You sing as well - should we expect an album in the near future? 

I love to play music. Currently I don’t have any plans of producing an album, but who knows what the future holds…

What are some of your hobbies? 

Recently I’ve been doing a lot of boxing, yoga, and volleyball.

What is it like for you, walking down the street or through the mall? I’m sure you get a lot of attention from the ladies. 

Every once in a while.

What is your idea of the perfect date? 

Sometimes the best dates are spontaneous adventures. I’ve had a lot of great dates, but one that sticks out in my mind started out as what was supposed to be a tame night going to a house party with this girl. We ended up being bored by the party, so we left and took two guitars and skateboards and skated around the USC campus for a while, which is beautiful at night, and then played guitar for hours on this little grassy knoll. After that we weren’t tired, so we went to a 24-hr diner by the beach where we ate and decided to go swimming afterward. Then we walked down to the beach, swam in the ocean, and then sat on the sand and talked until the sun came up. It was a nice night.

What are some of your favorite movies? 

I have so many movies I love… a couple are Taxi Driver, Pulp Fiction, and The Bicycle Thief. Oh! And The Big Lebowski.

What was your most embarrassing moment?

I usually try to block these out of my mind seconds after they happen, but… I remember one time I was in the 3rd grade. I was in the cafeteria at school and another kid spilled milk over my pants. It looked like I peed. I then had to walk all the way to the front office past a ton of laughing children. The, to add insult to embarrassment, they gave me these tiny pants to wear from the lost and found. How a kid lost his pants at school, I will never know, but I ended up wearing these tiny pants for the rest of the day…

How do you stay in such great shape when you are always working? How do you find the time to work out? 

I try to find things that are great exercise, but also a lot of fun. That way I really want to do them in my free time. Stuff like boxing and hiking.

What was it like working with people who were deaf on “Switched at Birth”? Did you learn any sign language? 

I learned a ton of sign language! Sean Berdy is such a great guy. I had a blast hanging out with him.

What would you relate with your character Wilke on “Switched at Birth”? Do you two have any similarities or differences? 

Wilke is such a carefree guy for the most part. He just sort of goes with the flow. I’ve been doing a lot more of that lately in my personal life. Life’s so much more fun when you accept that it’s all about experiences. 

What would you like to see yourself accomplish in the next 5-10 years time? 

I’ve got a sort of long-term to do list of people I want to work with, things I want to learn, and places I want to visit. I hope to have check off a good deal of that list in ten years.

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