Austin Butler and Emily Ratajkowski Spotted at Dinner in New York City

Austin Butler and Emily Ratajkowski have seemingly formed a friendship, bonding at a New York City hotspot.

Butler and Ratajkowski, both 34, were recently spotted at NYC’s Waverly Inn in photos shared by online gossip site DeuxMoi on Wednesday, September 10. The model sported a strapless, black ensemble, while Butler opted for a white T-shirt.

Butler and Ratajkowski, who sat side-by-side in a booth, have not further addressed how they know one another, though they coincidentally share an early acting credit. Butler appeared on a 2007 episode of Nickelodeon’s iCarly, two years before Ratajkowski made her own cameo on the tween sitcom.

“I was on, like, three episodes,” Ratajkowski recalled of her role during an Elle UK interview published last month. “They are, kind of, fun, It was crazy [being on] Nickelodeon. It was my breakout role, I guess.”

She continued, “It was just a crazy experience being with a bunch of child actors, like, famously. … I was in public high school, so it was a real experience to all of sudden meet people my age who had grown up on set.”

Since appearing on iCarly, Ratajkowski has landed featured roles in We Are Your Friends, Easy, Cruise, I Feel Pretty, Lying and Stealing, as well as Netflix’s Too Much that premiered earlier this year.

As for Butler, he appeared on many Nick and Disney Channel sitcoms before booking starring roles on Freeform’s Switched at Birth and The CW’s The Carrie Diaries. His career reached new heights in 2023 when his starring role as Elvis Presley landed him an Oscar nomination.

“There’s certain moments where it feels really strange to celebrate and a moment like this right now is one of those things,” Butler told The Los Angeles Times at the time. “As a young actor, I always saw off in the distance as this thing that almost seemed unattainable. And so, to suddenly hear my name listed amongst these other amazing actors as recognized by the Academy, it’s so surreal to me.”

Related: Disney Channel Alums Who’ve Been Nominated for (Or Won!) an Oscar

Austin Butler’s Disney Channel past was revealed during his press run for 2022’s Elvis when various reporters reflected on how far the actor has come throughout his career. For those unfamiliar, Butler played Derek Hanson on a 2007 episode of Hannah Montana — yes, as a possible romantic suitor for Miley Cyrus — before appearing […]

While Butler ultimately lost the trophy to Brendan Fraser, his career hasn’t slowed down with roles in Dune, Caught Stealing and The Bikeriders.

“For a long time, I felt that it had to be a tortured process and I would come out the other side broken,” he told Men’s Health in an August profile about acting. “Rather than just putting parts of yourself away and trying to pretend that they don’t exist, it’s like going into the gross bits of yourself — going into the bits that you don’t want to look at—and finding a way of integrating that into the whole.”