Austin Butler starred in his roles as Sebastian Kydd in The Carrie Diaries on The CW and Wil Ohmsford in MTV's The Shannara Chronicles. However, Butler's acting career truly took off after appearing in The Dead Don't Die in the late 2010s.

Austin Butler is set to star in two films — Ari Aster's Eddington (a contemporary Western black comedy) and Darren Aronofsky's Caught Stealing (a crime thriller based on Charlie Huston's 2004 book of the same name). As of the writing of this article, neither have release dates.

Now, Butler is a widely known actor, and the world is his oyster. Perhaps the notion of true movie stars is dead, aka the idea that an actor can be so famous and powerful that their name alone is a film's main selling point. However, if it wasn't, someone could make a good argument as to why Butler is a movie star (or is on his way to becoming one). Butler's career is on the up and up as he continues appearing in popular, critically acclaimed films, and it all happened after the premiere of The Dead Don't Die.

The Dead Don't Die Is The Last Horror Movie Austin Butler Has Done

The Horror Zombie Film Premiered In 2019

Austin Butler starred as Jack in Jim Jarmusch's movie The Dead Don't Die. The 2019 horror zombie comedy chronicles a zombie outbreak in the small rural town of Centerville and follows the police's response to the crisis. Butler's character, Jack, is one of three travelers who are unlucky enough to through Centerville during the zombie outbreak. His role isn't too important in the grand scheme of things. However, when looking at Butler's career, The Dead Don't Die is seemingly quite significant.

Butler starred in a couple of horror movies prior to The Dead Don't Die, including The Intruders and Yoga Hosers. It's Butler's latest horror flick, though, and it's available to stream on Netflix (and is trending on the platform's charts). Consequently, many are just now discovering The Dead Don't Die five years after its release. Unfortunately, it received mixed reviews at the time of its opening, but it wasn't all bad as Butler's 2019 zombie movie marked the end of one stage of his career and the start of a new, better one.

After The Dead Don't Die, Austin Butler Became A Massive Movie Star In Oscar-Nominated Films

Butler Appeared In Elvis, Dune: Part Two, & More

Shortly after The Dead Don't Die, Austin Butler began exclusively starring in triumphant, critically acclaimed films. He dipped his toe into the prestigious waters with a small part in Quentin Tarantino's Academy Award-winning movie Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood in 2019. A few years later, Butler was the face of another Oscar-nominated film — Elvis. Butler was even nominated for Best Actor for his performance as Elvis Presley but lost to Brendan Fraser for The Whale. The actor went on to appear in a couple more well-received movies; Dune: Part Two and The Bikeriders.

Butler's sudden shift from movies with poor box office performances and "rotten" scores on Rotten Tomatoes to Oscar-nominated, successful films is impressive. It's quite wild that The Dead Don't Die was the last project Butler did before making this sudden turn. Yes, many have found the horror movie entertaining. But, it only made $15 million at the box office and wasn't exactly popular with critics. Meanwhile, Butler's next film, Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood, earned over $377 million at the box office and won two Academy Awards.

Austin Butler's The Dead Don't Die Role Is More Shocking To See After His Recent Career Streak

Butler Is Barely In The Zombie Flick

If one watched The Dead Don't Die after seeing Austin Butler in Elvis, Dune: Part Two, etc., they would likely be quite surprised by the actor's role. He is barely in the 2019 horror zombie movie, and it's not like he was a huge star who made a small cameo (like Bill Murray in Zombieland). Butler hadn't reached his breakout yet. So, it makes sense why Butler would have an insignificant role in The Dead Don't Die, but it's amusing to watch it knowing the actor would soon be landing parts in Oscar-nominated films.