Jacob Elordi is good at making a large man seem gentle, and at making that gentleness unsettling. We rate his quietest work, though The Dog Stars shows how easily restraint becomes blankness when the writing gives him little to play.
Fi1m perspective
In Frankenstein (2025), an enormous body sits up and speaks in a small, uncertain voice. Jacob Elordi’s Creature says his maker’s name, and we were moved because he sounds so helpless inside that body. Guillermo del Toro gets something tender from him without asking him to announce it. Editor Evan Schiff lets the quieter passages run, giving us time to watch Elordi move as though his limbs are unfamiliar. The performance holds together a film too inclined to repeat what it has already shown.
The early recognition came through The Kissing Booth (2018), followed by Nate Jacobs in Euphoria (2019). The television role established him, but the more interesting turn in his film work came with Saltburn and Priscilla in 2023. In both, another character’s fascination with him gives Elordi a harder job than simply looking pleased to be there.
Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn (2023) casts him as Felix Catton, the rich friend of Barry Keoghan’s watchful Oliver Quick. Elordi plays Felix’s generosity as a habit the boy has never examined. That makes the attraction credible without having Felix work for our approval. The film mistakes rudeness for insight into class, but Elordi gives us a reason to want Felix’s company.
Sofia Coppola uses his size more pointedly in Priscilla (2023). Cinematographer Philippe Le Sourd makes Cailee Spaeny look small in wide rooms, so Elordi’s Elvis occupies most of the picture when he enters. His gentle voice makes the imbalance more disturbing. He is good at the sweetness and the abrupt changes, but the script gives him too little inner life. As the film repeats its pattern, there is less for him to discover.
The Dog Stars (2026) shows the limit of that reserve. As Hig in Ridley Scott’s survival drama, Elordi is subdued to the point where we cannot always tell what he is holding back, or whether the screenplay has supplied anything. Josh Brolin’s more forceful Bangley brings their shared scenes some life, but agreeable company cannot make thin characters sustain a slow film. Start with Frankenstein, and be prepared for a good deal of shouting from Victor.
Biography
Jacob Nathaniel Elordi is an Australian actor. He was born on 26 June 1997 in Brisbane, Queensland.
Elordi first gained attention for his role as Noah Flynn in the Netflix film The Kissing Booth (2018) and its sequels, and as Nate Jacobs in the HBO series Euphoria (2019–).
He played Felix Catton in Saltburn (2023), Elvis Presley in Priscilla (2023), and the Creature in Frankenstein (2025). His accolades include a Critics' Choice Award and three AACTA Awards, with nominations for an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards and two Golden Globe Awards.
