Austin Butler Talks '90s Style, Breitling and 'Miami Vice' Future

The Throwback Charmer

Austin Butler has spent the past few years establishing himself as one of Hollywood)'s most shape-shifting young leading men, the rare actor who seems to dissolve completely into each role. A new interview with ELLE, published in mid-June 2026, turns the spotlight on a slightly different version of him: the easygoing nostalgist with a deep affection for the look and feel of an earlier era. Over the course of the conversation, Butler talks style, watches and a film slate that is shaping up to be one of the busiest of his career.

A Taste for '90s Cool

ELLE frames Butler as a natural heir to the kind of relaxed, lived-in elegance the 1990s did so well, and the actor traces that instinct back to his own living room. He tells the outlet that his father watched 'Seinfeld' every night growing up, and that the Chronomat was the watch Jerry Seinfeld wore on the show. That personal connection, per ELLE, is a big part of why he was drawn to Breitling's revived Chronomat line, which sits at the center of the profile.

Butler also gravitates toward the icons of understated, no-effort style, describing his fascination with endless images of one figure "in a white T-shirt, just fully effortless." It is a telling detail for an actor who clearly thinks about clothing less as decoration than as character. The appeal, as he describes it, is not flash but restraint, the quiet confidence of someone who does not appear to be trying at all.

A Stacked Slate Ahead

The interview also surveys the projects lining up on Butler's calendar, and the range is striking. As reported by ELLE, his upcoming work includes:

• 'Miami Vice '85' — the period take on the franchise from 'Top Gun: Maverick' director Joseph Kosinski, with Butler starring opposite Michael B. Jordan, whom he calls "a visionary."
• A Lance Armstrong biopic, which puts him in the role of one of cycling's most polarizing figures.
• 'The Barrier', described as a time-travel epic.
• A spy thriller in development at A24.

Taken together, the lineup makes plain that Butler is chasing range rather than repeating a formula, moving from gritty crime drama into the neon of the 1980s, then into sports tragedy and large-scale genre spectacle. For an actor still relatively early in his leading-man phase, it is the kind of deliberately varied portfolio that tends to mark performers building toward longevity rather than a single signature role.

Style as Storytelling

What ultimately threads through the ELLE profile is how tightly Butler links personal style to his craft. He treats clothing, watches and period-specific detail as tools, part of how he finds his way into a character rather than afterthoughts layered on top. That sensibility helps explain both his on-screen transformations and the throwback aesthetic he carries into real life.

For an actor who has leaned so heavily into reinvention, the consistent through-line is a genuine fascination with the textures of the recent past, and an evident comfort letting that nostalgia shape his off-screen persona. As the Breitling partnership and his loaded slate suggest, Butler is positioning himself as both a serious dramatic performer and a bona fide style figure, two roles he seems intent on playing at once.

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