10 Best Austin Butler Movies & TV Shows, Ranked

One of Hollywood's most exciting talents working today, Austin Butler has been steadily building his portfolio since working as a background actor in 2005 on the Nickelodeon shows "Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide," "Unfabulous," and "Drake & Josh." Butler even appeared in an episode of "Hannah Montana" that also had Larry David. Progressing into guest and recurring roles on a variety of teenage sitcoms and dramas, the actor made an incredible turn-about going from teen idol to highly acclaimed leading man seemingly over night.

While working extensively in both film and television, Butler also received complimentary notices in the theater world, most notably as Don Parritt in "The Iceman Cometh," in a 2018 mounting of the play on Broadway with Denzel Washington. His work ethic during that play impressed the legendary actor so much Washington personally recommended Butler to Baz Luhrmann helping Butler, helping Butler land one of his most distinctive roles.

In his relatively young career, Butler has not only gained the respect of Hollywood's elite, he's earned critical acclaim on account of the wide diversity of roles and genres he challenges himself with. Surely, a list that will require revisiting every five years (at a minimum), for wno, we've ranked the best Austin Butler movies and TV shows of his filmography thus far.

I count myself among the defenders of "The Dead Don't Die," one of the most abjectly bizarre and acerbic zombie films made. Starring Bill Murray and Adam Driver, the film weaves in a not-so-subtle environmentalism message where polar fracking in the North Pole has effectively created the undead. The zombies in "The Dead Don't Die" differ from those in other flicks in the genre, presenting as material obsessed, power user-level consumers. Writer-director Jim Jarmusch pushes the absurdist elements of the film through its characters' aggressively dead pan dialogue delivery, especially from its two leading men, emphasizing the general complacency and apathy of the world.

Butler briefly appears in the film alongside Selena Gomez and Luka Sabbat, as a trio of young travelers who stop through Centerville for the evening. The film is filled with cameos, including RZA and Iggy Pop, and watching "The Dead Don't Die" in retrospect, Butler doesn't seem out of place given his Oscar nominee status today. But in 2019, his name and face recognition came from Disney and Nickelodeon shows (to a much lesser degree than Gomez) and his appearance didn't carry much weight. 

In spite of his cursory screentime, "The Dead Don't Die" serves as the turning point in Butler's film career, bifurcating movies like "Yoga Hosers" from the acclaim that eventually came. "The Dead Don't Die" has since enjoyed some success on streaming and is completely worth the time of those who take enjoyment in the most puzzling of films.

Similar to "Sex and the City" author Candace Bushnell, I've not been a fan of the HBO sequel series "And Just Like That." However, the 2013 CW prequel, "The Carrie Diaries," has held a fond place in my "Sex and the City"-loving heart, despite its imperfections. Set in Manhattan during the tubular '80s, AnnaSophia Robb stars as a young Carrie Bradshaw, bereaved over the recent death of her mother and harboring dreams of becoming a famous writer.

The prequel focused greatly on Carrie's sexual awakening (in keeping with the general vibe of the franchise), revealing a life before Big, which included Austin Butler's Sebastian Kydd. The resident bad boy rich kid, Sebastian enters Carrie's world after being kicked out of boarding school for sleeping with the art history teacher. Sebastian's cool guy demeanor softens as he falls for Bradshaw. Of course, he and Carrie stumble and fall numerous times, such as kissing Carrie's bestie, and the end of the series shows him leaving Manhattan (and therefore Carrie) to run his company in Malibu, as all high school grads do.

After nearly a decade of guest spots and recurring roles, "The Carrie Diaries" marks the actor's first main role on a show from its outset. The series only lasted two seasons, but Butler's talents were obvious to his costars, with Robb telling E! News in 2022, "We all knew Austin would be a super star when we worked with him."

Like many of his peers, the Disney Channel and Nickelodeon made up a great deal of Butler's early work, including appearing on "Hannah Montana" as Miley Cyrus' blind date and starring as Jake, Carly's crush on "iCarly." His most substantial role in this phase of his career, though, comes from "Zoey 101," a Nickelodeon show starring Jamie Lynn Spears as the titular Zoey, who enrolls in a boarding school traditionally restricted to boys.

"Zoey 101" ran from 2005 to 2008, dropping 61 episodes across four seasons, garnering great acclaim, earning an Emmy nomination in 2005, and developing a loyal fanbase (so much so that a 10th anniversary short film and a sequel, "Zoey 102," were developed in 2015 and 2023, respectively). Butler became a main player on the show for one season as James, a new student from Sante Fe and Zoey's season 4 love interest. It's a typical role for a young budding actor, especially one coming up in the 2000s, and although Butler admitted to Backstage that his skills weren't quite there during this time, he "wanted to give the energy [as if] I was going to make 'Raging Bull.'" So there's an early sign of the determination and ambition that would drive the actor into the fruitful career he enjoys today.

Given the deluge of high school dramas that The CW aired in the 2000s and into the 2010s, it should come as no srurpsie that some genuine gems went unappreciated in their time, such as "Life Unexpected." Only 26 episodes of the series aired starring Britt Robertson as Lux, a teen who grew up in the foster system and finds her biological parents in the hopes of being emancipated. Although the show ran for just two seasons, series creator Liz Tigelaar put together a layered and thoughtful story of a young girl in search of her identity amid living a life of displacement and upheaval, earning favorable comparisons to "Gilmore Girls." 

As would become a pattern for Butler during this time, he portrayed the popular kid in school, Jones Mager, a star quarterback. Butler played the archetype many times over early in his career, but as Jones, he put forward a uniquely mature and refined turn by mixing humor, charm, and youthful exuberance. Tigelaar's scripts provided her actors with compelling dialogue, while the chemistry between Butler and Robertson created a gentle example of teenage love, leaving fans delighted when the series ended with the two still together.

After his breakout role in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" (more on that later), Butler took a small break from television where he began his career. He returned to the small screen in 2024 with the Apple TV+ series, "Masters of the Air," a companion to the previous HBO hit wartime dramas, "Band of Brothers" and "The Pacific." An expansive series with breathtaking set pieces, "Masters of the Air" follows the 100th Bomb Group, an American heavy bomber unit during World War II.

In many ways, "Masters of the Air" serves as a triumphant return to television for Butler. He still occupies the good looking, heroic, charming young man slot, but now armed with the skill he didn't think he possessed during his Disney/Nick days. Butler carries the show well enough as Major Gale "Buck" Cleven but the writing and execution of the show lack any real depth, putting this role and series just out of the top-half of this list, although in the grand scheme of his career, Buck is an important waypoint.

"Switched at Birth" may seem an odd choice to begin the top-five of Butler's career to date. He appears in less than 20 episodes in the show's five season, 103 episode run; and the show itself — though a critical success, even winning an honorary Peabody Award in 2013 — never became a massive part of the cultural zeitgeist.

The series is best known for its representation of deaf and hard-of-hearing communities in its storylines and ensemble, with American Sign Language readily used throughout the show. Katie Leclerc and Vanessa Marano lead the series as two teenagers growing up in the Midwest who learn that they were accidentally switched at birth. "Switched at Birth" could have easily become a saccharine bit of television with overwrought characters and heavy-handed messaging. Instead, the series thrived upon its fresh dialogue, compelling character arcs, and grounded nature (in spite of its rather improbable set up).

In "Switched at Birth," Butler portrays, who else, the good looking, temporary love interest of Leclerc's Daphne. As Wilke, Butler becomes the sounding board for Daphne, connecting with being teased as kids, handing Daphne her first true heartbreak, helping her make sense of this life-changing discovery and all the challenges that have come with it. Before "Masters of the Air" offered Butler a chance to take on a layered character in a substantial show, "Switched at Birth" gave Butler the first opportunity to demonstrate his ability to take on a rich character within a considerable show.

Undoubtedly, Butler's breakout role came in Quentin Tarantino's 2019 film "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" as Tex Watson, a member of the Manson Family who, in real life, is currently serving a life sentence for the murders of Abigail Folger, Wojciech Frykowski, Steven Parent, Sharon Tate Polanski, Jay Sebring, Leno LaBianca, and Rosemary LaBianca.

In 2024, Butler revealed that he turned down a screen test for "Top Gun: Maverick" in favor of accepting Tarantino's offer to play Tex, and while Tom Cruise's blockbuster did just fine with Miles Teller in the role of Rooster, breaking box office records and earning multiple Academy Award nominations, Butler's decision proved to be the right one. While Rooster occupies more screen time, Tex arguably gives Butler more of a chance to showcase his dramatic chops, which he did in spades. Similar to simultaneously tapping your head and rubbing your tummy, Butler pulls off spewing threats with great command while occupying a silently apprehensive physicality to form a disturbed and impressionable young man.

"Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" released in theaters a little over a month after "The Dead Don't Die," and it officially re-introduced Butler to the world as a member of the new young Hollywood, allowing him to shed his Disney/Nickelodeon's image.

Every successful actor has a defining role, one that no matter what they do later on, no matter how much greater or revered, it's intrinsically connected to them by the media and the greater public conscience. For Austin Butler that role is none other than Elvis Presley in the aptly-titled, "Elvis."

Director Baz Lurhmann chose Butler to play the King after a lengthy five-month audition process in a biopic that would eventually garner eight Academy Award nominations, including Butler's first for Best Actor. Lurhmann employs his trademark maximalist energy to chronicle the life and career of the legendary musician, showing the craze that surrounded Elvis and the painful downfall that followed. Along with the Oscar nom, Butler received unanimous praise from critics groups and won the BAFTA and Golden Globe for his stellar turn.

Butler's performance, though, goes beyond awards and acclaim. Nearly 50 years since Elvis' untimely passing in 1977, he has experienced a resurgence in pop culture and on the charts, gaining new ardent fans, present company included, in no small part because of "Elvis." Butler displayed a great amount of compassion and respect for Elvis, two elements not commonly associated with the singer in modern day society, presenting an almost forgotten side to the Memphis Flash. Even when showing Elvis at his lowest, Butler preserved the humanity of a young boy from Tupelo who lived his wildest dreams against all odds.

Based on a photobook by Danny Lyon first published in 1968, Jeff Nichols' "The Bikeriders" was quietly released in theaters last year after strangely changing distributor hands following its premiere at the Telluride Film Festival in August 2023. Starring Butler as Benny, a member of the Vandals Motorcycle Club, and Jodie Comer as his eventual wife Kathy, "The Bikeriders" followed the Chicago-based club from the mid-1960s into the '70s.

Although a box office disappointment upon its initial release, "The Bikeriders" has found success on Prime Video with movie lovers finally discovering the quiet beauty of the film. While ostensibly about a group of men who like riding motorcycles, Nichols honed in on the cultural shifts of America during that time as captured by Lyon. Groups like the Vandals went from being a motorcycle club for enthusiasts to motorcycle gangs where drugs and violence prevail, "The Bikeriders" hits on the reasoning behind the shift and how it upended the overall fabric of the country.

"The Bikeriders" points to Butler's desire for storytelling over spectacle. At a point in his career where huge pay cheques await for popcorn flicks aplenty, Butler went for an artistically-inclined meditative film. He delivered a performance that quietly simmers until it boils over, that may have been quickly forgotten come award season last year, but will eventually find its place among Butler's soon-to-be extensive filmography as an underrated gem.

Maybe it's recency bias, maybe it's Denis Villeneuve.

Denis Villeneuve's impossible realization of Frank Herbert's classic science fiction novel "Dune" stands not only as a technical cinematic marvel but an effusive display of the French Canadian filmmaker's aptitude as a director, including his ability to assemble an impressive cast and draw out uniquely apropos performances. In "Dune: Part Two," Villeneuve brings together the Murderers' Row of new Hollywood: Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Florence Pugh, and of course, Austin Butler.

Taking on the deranged and cruel-for-the-sake-of-cruel Feyd-Rautha, nephew of Stellan Skarsgård's Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, Butler goes pure villain. Sporting a shaved head, vacant white skin, and a blood lust that strikes fear into those around him, the actor rose to the occasion and then some to bring life to one of literature's most reviled sadists (though he made sure to establish a better boundary with his character than he did with "Elvis.") Feyd-Rautha provides Paul Atreides (Chalamet) as his biggest direct challenge to that point, the two young men representing two sides of the same coin. The film concludes with their duel highlighting the multi-faceted talent of both actors giving their physicality an opportunity to shine.

"Dune: Part Two" raked up multiple nominations and wins across award bodies, although its ensemble missed out on similar recognition, just as was the case in 2021's "Part One." Perhaps each performance cancelled out the other, but regardless, Butler's vicious turn is one of his best, and undoubtedly, "Part Two" marks the most impressive, dynamic, and well-rounded film of his career thus far.