Jacob Elordi says his version of Frankenstein is “more me than I am”.
Jacob Elordi says his version of Frankenstein is a mirror of himself
The 28-year-old actor stars as the legendary monster in Guillermo del Toro’s new blockbuster and has explained that he chanelled his entire existence into the horror role.
Speaking at a press junket for the film at Venice Film Festival on Saturday (30.08.25), he said: “I always waited for the movie to be done in the right conditions, both creatively in terms of achieving the scope that it needed for me to make it different, to make it at a scale that you could reconstruct the whole world.”
On his deeply personal connection to his character, he said: “It was a vessel that I could put every part of myself into. From the moment that I was born to being here with you today, all of it is in that character.
“And in so many ways, the creature that’s on screen in this movie is the sort of purest form of myself. He’s more me than I am.”
The actor spent up to 10 hours a day in the make-up chair getting ready to play the creature.
He told Variety: “There’s so many different layers to the costume. When he’s born, he’s wearing nearly nothing. His chest is open and his head is high.
“Then, as he starts to experience pain, as we do as a teenager, he starts to hunch his shoulders. And as an adult, he closes off.”
Elordi also revealed his golden retriever Layla was with him on set and she wasn’t scared by his costume and prosthetics, saying: “She loved it, actually.
“She didn’t bark – or feel threatened.”
In the new version of Frankenstein, he plays the creature locked in conflict with his creator Victor Frankenstein, played by Oscar Isaac.
Guillermo imagined the film not as a conventional horror story but as a layered family drama.
He said: “I’ve been following the creature since I was a kid.
“I waited for the movie to be done in the right conditions, both creatively in terms of achieving the scope to make it different, and to make it at a scale that you could reconstruct the whole world. I’m in postpartum depression now that it’s finished.”
Elordi was asked at the same event who in society he views as monstrous.
He answered: “Men in suits.”
Guillermo interjected: “Very well tailored (suits.)”