'I Enjoy Playing Complex People'

Jacob Elordi speaks with Adam Stone about his latest film, Frankenstein, and how transforming into a monster is one of the more human characters he has played

- 

At just 27, Jacob Elordi has transformed his career playing popular culture’s most iconic characters — from the swagger of Elvis Presley to the tormented lover in Euphoria. Now, in Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, he takes that transformation to its most literal extreme. Beneath hours of prosthetics and makeup, Elordi finds not just a creature, but a mirror to human fragility. In this conversation, he talks about losing himself in the role, learning to move like a monster, and why this might be his most human performance yet.

Did you have apprehensions at all about playing a role that required so many hours in prosthetics and makeup?

I didn’t. I think every actor wants to be able to completely immerse themselves in a character, and this was a chance to do that. I have played characters before that have challenged me to truly become something else, and this was just a physical version of that. But it’s funny because through all the hours in makeup to become a monster, I really feel like this is one of the more human characters I have played.

How did you come to be cast in such an iconic role?