Austin Butler & Zoë Kravitz vs. Lie Detector | Vanity Fair

You were recently spotted dancing at a Bad Bunny concert in Puerto Rico. Yeah. You revealed that you were on an edible during the concert. Yeah. Who gave you the edible? Can I say? Austin. Yes. Zoe. Yes. We brought you here today to take a lie detector test. This is Lou, our polygraph operator. Hi Lou. Lou. How you doing? It's a pleasure to meet you. Lie. What? Lie. What do you mean? Big fan of Lou? You just met Lou. I've seen Lou do this a number of times. Okay. Fine. He's charming. He's handsome. Look at him. It's working. Oh my God. One of you will be hooked up to the machine while the other will ask the questions. And then you'll switch. Who wants to be in the hot seat first? I think I should do it. Oh. Okay. Yeah. No. Go for it. You want to go first? No. I think you should go first. Austin. Zoe. To calibrate the machine, I'm going to ask you some straightforward questions. Uh huh. Please answer honestly. All right. Is your full name Austin Robert Butler? You never said my full name before. How do you feel about it? That's my real name. That's my full name. Are you from Anaheim, California? That's right. Yeah. Are you about to take a lie detector test? Yes. Lou, we good to go? We're ready to go. Let's get started. You have a notably soothing voice. Have you ever considered recording bedtime stories? I have. You have? You've considered that? I mean- You've been like alone, been like, I should record- No, people have said you should record one. And I've thought, I like reading out loud. So maybe I- Truthful. Okay. Yeah. But I haven't done it. Would you ever record audio erotica? Yeah. Truthful. Can you read this Pride and Prejudice quote for me? You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you. In an audio erotica voice. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire you and I love you. Yeah. Great. Is that right? Did I get the line right? Yeah, I'm falling asleep already. Okay. You were recently spotted dancing at a Bad Bunny concert in Puerto Rico. Yeah. When you accepted the invite, did you know you were going to be on stage? When I accepted the invite, no. Is that true? Truthful. Okay. When you found out you were going to be on stage, did you have stage fright? Did you get nervous? Yes. Okay. You revealed that you were on an edible during the concert. Yeah. Who gave you the edible? Can I say? It was Daniel. Daniel had them and Darren facilitated. This is illegal. Truthful. Yeah? Okay, thank you. Do you regret taking the edible? No. A little bit. Did you really take an edible or you just felt weird about the way you were dancing and you made up that story to cover it up? I really took an edible. Okay. But I also think I would have felt uncomfortable anyway just being on stage. I also don't think that I was as uncomfortable as I've made it out to be. He's being truthful. Okay. Thank you, Lou. Have you ever pretended to be sick to avoid a social commitment? Yeah. I'm trying to be better about telling the truth and just saying I don't actually feel like God. What was the last thing you pretended to be sick for? I'm sorry. I can't remember. Deceptive. Oh. Really? I think I just get nervous. Have you ever told me you couldn't hang out because you were sick? Because I was sick? No. Deceptive. I can't remember. Okay. In a 2012 Teen Vogue video, you said that you wanted to be the first American to play James Bond. That's not a good idea. All right. Yeah. There's other people who would do such a good job at that. Okay. So who do you think would be a great next James Bond? Wow. I like the idea of Idris Elba. I read something that said Zendaya. Do you think that James Bond should be a man? I think it's all that I've ever experienced, but I think Zendaya is so talented. And it's a whole other thing, so... Do you think that maybe James... But also I've heard that Tom Holland... Jamie Bond? Maybe they could do a joint thing. Tom and Zendaya. Do you think that... Do you think that's a good idea? I think it's a terrible idea. All right, Lou. Ian's casting. Okay. Speaking of British cultural icons, you and I share several scenes opposite this man. That's Matt Smith. I've seen him before. Who asks you to watch his cat in the film? If Matt asked you to watch his actual dog in real life, would you? Yeah. Or would you say you were sick? No, I love dogs. It's people. Honestly, so fair. Yeah, right? Yeah. Truthful. Thank you, Lou. If you had to cook the dog gourmet food for every meal, would you? I like to make scrambled eggs for dogs. Okay. Truthful. All right. What about picking up the dog's ----? Would you do that? What? Would I pick up a dog's ----? Yeah, would you take the dog on a walk and pick it up, or would you just let it... Would you just leave it? I always pick it up. Okay. Ooh, Lou, my guy. Deceptive. Are you serious? I went on a walk with a friend the other night, and she didn't pick up her dog's poop. Did you say something? I did. I said I thought less of her. You said you thought less of her? I was joking. I was joking, but it was in a bush, and so she had a hard time getting it out. Okay. And then you told her you thought less of her? Yeah, so maybe I'm thinking of that story right now when you say it. Could be with striving the response. Thank you. Okay. Did you lie at any point during this lie detector test? Not that I know of. Oh. Oh! Deceptive. Deceptive! Zoe. Austin. All right, Zoe. To calibrate the machine, I'm going to ask you some straightforward questions. Okay. Please answer honestly. I will. Is your full name Zoe Isabella Kravitz? Yes. Were you born on December 1st? Yes. Are you about to take a lie detector test? Yes. All right, Lou. We're good to go? Let's do it. In your first lie detector test, you proved that you're a huge fan of Sex and the City. Correct. Be honest. Which was a better spinoff, The Carrie Diaries or Just Like That? Neither. Ooh. Tell me more. Leave that show alone, everybody. Just stop. All right. So now I'm going to throw this guy out. This guy out. What is it? Two pictures of me. Oh, no! All right. Are you on that show? Yeah, I was in The Carrie Diaries. Okay, sorry. I didn't know that. Did you know that? I didn't know that. Truthful? Truthful. Wow. Is it fair to say you're relieved that And Just Like That is coming to an end? I feel mixed feelings about it. So it's actually a TV show? Or is it a movie? It's a TV show. Okay. And what was your favorite batshit plot line for this season? Favorite is a word I don't think I can use for that show. There are some plot lines that confused me more than others. Uh-huh. There were plot lines that made me more upset than others. Uh-huh. Like, the window. What was up with the wind? Anyway. What happened with the window? Like, Aiden broke a window. And then, like, the whole episode was about, like, replacing the glass for the wind. I'm just... I liked Aiden. You don't anymore. Speaking of batshit plot lines, will there ever be a season three of Big Little Lies? I hope so. Yeah? You previously wrote a song for this person. I didn't write... Okay. Sure. Do you have a song on Taylor's new album, The Life of a Showgirl? Do I have a song? Yeah. Did you write a song? No. I didn't even write a full song. It's, like, a song that she wrote, and I wrote, like, a part of a melody in the song. I didn't write the song. That's truthful. Truthful. Is that because you recently destroyed the bathroom searching for your mother's snake? Yeah. I had a bunch of songs on the album, and then she... Yeah, yeah, yeah. After that happened... No. No, she was very cool about that. She was cool about that? Yeah. The bathroom is fixed. Yeah? Do you typically destroy your friend's bathrooms? No. That sounds so gross. Lou? Truthful. I'm a very good house guest. You've previously spoken about buying vintage T-shirts on eBay. Okay. Oh, sure. Okay. Have you ever bought a new T-shirt and lied about it being vintage to appear cooler? No. What a weird thing to do. Isn't that insane to lie about? That's insane. Oh, no. This is vintage. That's vintage. This is vintage. Yeah, you can't buy this anywhere. Yeah, this is old. This is from the 70s. This has been previously owned. Yeah, yeah. Would you judge me if I had done that? Yeah. Yeah, I would judge me too. Yeah, I'd be like, dude, why are you lying about your clothes? All right. What's the most expensive vintage T-shirt you've ever purchased? Oh, I bought a series of Beatles, like individual Beatles shirts that were probably like $1,000 each. $1,000 each? Yeah. And I also think I bought like a Ziggy, an original Ziggy Stardust shirt. Wow. It was over $1,000. Was it super soft? Yeah, so thin. You've attended Burning Man multiple times. I have. Be honest. Do you think I would fit in with your cool friends on the fly? I ran into you at Burning Man. Yeah, you did. You were great. You were doing your whole dance. That's the Burning Man dance. Is Burning Man the best party you've ever been to? Top three. Is it better than a party at Prince's house? Different. In what way? One's at Prince's house. One's Burning Man. One's like a week-long situation and one's just like, oh my God, I'm at Prince's house. Yeah, yeah. The coolest thing about Prince's party is that it's Prince's party. Is that it's Prince. Yeah. Which was a more intense experience in the desert, Burning Man or filming Mad Max Fury Road? Very similar. Only difference, less music and drugs. Okay. Mad Max because it was nine months and Burning Man was five days. Yeah, yeah. So yeah, Mad Max. And you're working the whole time. Yeah, I mean we kind of just sit in the back of the car the whole movie. Was it really hot? No, it was cold. It was their winter. Was it really? Yes, we were freezing. Wow, you don't see that on the camera. You recently played yourself in the studio. Yes. Was it hard to get into character? It was not hard to get into character. I was definitely playing a character though of myself. It wasn't really. That wasn't the real you? No. Do you think you would have handled Mushrooms better than the Zoe in the studio? No, I think I would have freaked out more. You would have freaked out more? I feel like the Zoe in the studio, I feel like she accepted it pretty quickly and went with it. I think I'd be more freaked out. Have you ever accidentally taken hallucinogens? I've never accidentally taken hallucinogenics, but I have accidentally dosed several people. Was it really an accident? Yes. It's people who went into my fridge when I was at home. It's happened like four times. Do you care to tell the story? It happened once when I was shooting Batman. My friend came to visit me from Paris and went into my fridge when I wasn't there and ate the chocolate mushrooms I had sitting there and called me and I had to leave work and take care of her. And then a month later it happened again with another friend. My God. And now I label everything. You must label. I label, but I also think you don't go into people's fridges and just eat unmarked chocolate. This is a lesson for the both of you. You know what I'm saying? Unless it's like Hershey's. Yeah, yeah. But even then, I wouldn't do it. That's true. You directed the film Blink Twice. Yes. Was there ever a moment on set where you watched our director, Darren Aronofsky, and you thought, I could do this better? No. Deceptive. I had moments that I probably didn't understand what was happening, but not better. Not better. Not better, but I think I had moments where I was like, you want me to, okay. But you thought that's not how I would have done it. Yes. Yeah. I found there were moments where I didn't understand his vision, and so it felt awkward. So do you think you're a better director than Darren Aronofsky? No. She's being true. Okay, thank you. I'm like, oh my God, I really don't think so. She's also being insistent, so that's a sign of being true. Insistence? Okay. No way. That's good, that's good. You live in Brooklyn, New York. Yes. Did you take the role and caught stealing because the commute was so easy? Not no. That was an upside for sure. Yeah, yeah. You and I both star in the film Caught Stealing. Yes. Have you ever stolen something and not been caught? Yeah, for sure. Things from- What is it? I've stolen a few things from sets, like clothes and stuff. Those are kind of yours, right? No. No? Oh, interesting, interesting. Oh. That's interesting that you think that. Oh, this is interesting. So you have stolen some things. This is making me think about my- Yeah, yeah. Okay, great. When I was a kid, I stole underwear from The Gap. I thought it was Victoria's Secret. Oh, maybe it was Victoria's Secret. Wow. No, I think you're right. The point is it was a thong because I wanted a thong and I like bought. I stole it because I was too young to- You were too drunk to- Young. Oh, too young to- Yeah, I was like 15. Wow. Stealing- Underwear. Thong underwear. Yeah. All right, this is our last question. Zoe. Austin. Did you lie at any point during this lie detector test? No. And we didn't catch you, did we? No. No? Truthfully. Good job, Zoe. Thanks, man.