Almost half a century since his untimely death at just 42 and the first ever cinematic movie biopic of Elvis Presley was released this summer. Now as Elvis the movie arrives on home release fans have spotted a blink and you’ll miss it cameo by Kurt Russell.
Elvis movie director Baz Luhrmann was asked about this during an interview with Screen Rant.
The Aussie filmmaker said: “Sometimes I lose track, but I think you’ll see him in the Hollywood montage. It was in there at one point; I’d have to check it. But you know that Russell kicks Elvis Presley in the shins in It Happened at the World’s Fair. Kurt Russell is a seven-year-old kicking us in the shins, and I think we have that in the Hollywood montage I’d have to check; it was in there at one point.”
t’s true, during the 1960s Elvis movie montage a clip of Kurt in his film debut kicking the real life King in the shin is seen from 1963’s It Happen At The World’s Fair.
The future movie star went on to play Elvis in a 1979 TV biopic and voice The King in 1994’s Forrest Gump.
He was just 11 years old when he acted opposite the American icon, who was playing Mike Edwards. The singer’s character wanted an excuse to see Joan O’Brien’s nurse so asked the boy to kick him for a quarter.
During filming, Kurt had to kick Elvis in the shin around 15 times, meaning The King had to wear a pad.
Speaking with GQ in 2016, Kurt said: “One time I got close to the edge of it and he looked at me, because he really trusted me, and went ‘…stay on the pad. What a nice guy he was. Yeah. He was 27 years old. He was really cool. An incredibly nice guy.”
The two filmed for a couple of weeks together and would play catch and chat about baseball. It also turns out that Elvis wanted to speak with Kurt’s father Bing Russell, a film actor, who had featured in The Magnificent Seven.
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