Austin Butler Says He Went Temporarily Blind & Felt Like He Was “Dying”

Austin Butler is getting candid about his health. In his new cover story with Men’s Health, published on Aug. 19, the actor recalled going through an episode of temporary blindness, which caused him to believe that he was “dying” in the moment.

During the interview, Butler opened up about his experience, saying the episode occurred when he was flying to Ohio to film his 2023 film The Bikeriders. He remembers that he “jolted awake” with a terrible migraine as the plane was landing, and lost his vision for several minutes.

“It felt like the life was being sucked from my body,” he said. “I suddenly felt a euphoric sensation, and I actually genuinely thought I was dying.” Luckily, Butler’s vision slowly returned to normal, saying he “willed” his sight to come back. But instead of taking the time to rest and get checked out, he headed to set the next day, considering the incident as a side effect of sleep deprivation.

Now, Butler is more mindful when it comes to sleep, especially while filming his upcoming movie Enemies, which primarily shoots at night. He now often works out, hits the sauna, and takes a cold shower to get in a deep sleep, saying he learned the routine from his Leftovers co-star Tom Hardy. “I’m just trying to find little things like that,” he said. “Sometimes it’s the mundane little things.”

Austin’s Health Scares

Butler’s bout of blindness was just one moment in a series of health issues that he’s experienced ever since he wrapped filming on Elvis, which earned him an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Elvis Presley. In 2021, just days after production ended, he was hospitalized after waking up with “severe, appendicitis-like pain,” and spent a whole week in bed.

Years later, while on a press tour in South Korea to promote Dune: Part Two, Butler experienced a “sudden terrible pain in his foot.” Instead of getting it checked out, he spent eight months walking with his toes curled, until a doctor finally removed a piece of glass that was “about the size of a grain of rice.”