Jacob Elordi looks completely unrecognizable as The Creature in Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Frankenstein’
Jacob Elordi is nearly unrecognizable in the first official look at Guillermo del Toro’s long-awaited ‘Frankenstein.’ And fans can finally see the ‘Euphoria’ and ‘Saltburn’ actor’s eerie transformation into one of literature’s most iconic monsters. Netflix dropped the haunting portraits of the cast on Friday, October 24, revealing Elordi as the patchwork Creature opposite Oscar Isaac’s Victor Frankenstein. The gothic reimagining also stars Mia Goth, Felix Kammerer, and Christoph Waltz, with del Toro directing and co-writing the film.
‘Frankenstein’ is now playing in select theaters and will begin streaming globally on Netflix starting November 7. The film retells Mary Shelley’s timeless tale of obsession and creation gone wrong. It follows a brilliant but arrogant scientist who defies nature by bringing the dead back to life, only to unleash a being that ultimately becomes his own undoing. In the newly released images, Elordi is a far cry from his usual heartthrob persona. His skin is ghostly pale and covered in brutal scars, with long, dark hair that’s tangled and wild.
His eyes appear hollow yet filled with grief, a haunting embodiment of Shelley’s tortured Creature. Transforming into the role was no small feat. Speaking to Variety in August, Elordi described the grueling process behind the performance, which involved spending up to ten hours in the makeup chair each day. “You throw time away when you make a film like this,” he said. “I didn’t do breakfast, lunch, or dinner, or think in terms of morning, afternoon, night. It was just one time.” And according to del Toro, Elordi’s dedication went far beyond the physical transformation.
“Never once did he come to me and complain,” the filmmaker revealed. “Never once did he say, ‘I’m tired. I’m hungry. Can I go?’ And he put in 20-hour days.” Moreover, the actor admitted that the experience changed his entire approach to performance. “Playing The Creature changed me fundamentally,” Elordi explained. “It changed the way that I approach performance and the way that I watch movies.” At the Toronto International Film Festival in September, del Toro shared with PEOPLE how he was immediately drawn to Elordi for the role, despite his reputation as a Hollywood leading man.
The Oscar-winning director revealed that he was “never daunted” by Elordi’s is good looks. “All it takes is for me to see ‘Saltburn.’ And talking to him, I just saw a magnificent actor, and the soulfulness of his eyes is just overwhelming,” he said. Meanwhile, Frankenstein marks another ambitious project for del Toro. The filmmaker is known for marrying fantasy and horror with deep emotional storytelling, from ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ to ‘The Shape of Water.’ With Elordi stepping into one of literature’s most tragic figures, the film is sure to be both terrifying and heartbreakingly human.