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Jacob Elordi
- In full:
- Jacob Nathaniel Elordi
Jacob Elordi (born June 26, 1997,Brisbane, Queensland, Australia) is an Australian actor who gained overnight fame for his work in theNetflixromantic comedyThe Kissing Booth (2018) and cemented his stardom with theHBOdrama seriesEuphoria (2019– ). While these roles established him as a teen heartthrob, Elordi sought to prove himself as a serious actor, and he achieved critical acclaim and recognition for his performances inPriscilla andSaltburn (both 2023).
Early life
Elordi is the youngest of four children born to Melissa and John Elordi, the latter of whom worked as a housepainter. The family lived in Brisbane, Queensland,Australia. Jacob Elordi became interested inacting when he was 12 years old. That year he portrayed the Cat in the Hat in his school’s production ofSeussical. Elordi playedrugby also, but a back injury led him to focus on the stage. He read biographies, watched films, andemulated the style of his favorite actors, drawing inspiration from such stars asMarlon Brando,Steve McQueen,Daniel Day-Lewis, andHeath Ledger.
The Kissing Booth andEuphoria
In 2018 Elordi appeared in his first creditedfilm roles. He had a minor part in the raunchy Australian comedySwinging Safari and then starred as bad-boy Noah Flynn inThe Kissing Booth. The latter, a teen rom-com, was a huge hit, and Elordi literally became famous overnight; after the movie’s midnight release, he awoke to millions of newInstagram followers.
Despite the success of the film, Elordi struggled to land other roles. After completingThe Kissing Booth in 2017, he moved toLos Angeles and ended up living out of his car while occasionally sleeping on friends’ couches. However, as he was planning to return to Australia, he was cast inEuphoria. Thegritty drama series—which also starsZendaya,Sydney Sweeney, and Hunter Schafer—centers on a group of troubled high-school students. The 6-foot 5-inch (1.96-meter) Elordi plays the antihero Nate Jacobs. The first season aired in 2019 and was a huge hit, cementing Elordi’s status as a teen heartthrob. However, in a number of interviews he voiced concerns with this objectification and worried that he would not be accepted as a serious actor.
The popularity ofEuphoria led to numerous film roles for Elordi. His credits from 2020 include the comedies2 Hearts andThe Very Excellent Mr. Dundee, the latter of which starred Paul Hogan. In 2022 Elordi appeared alongsideBen Affleck andAna de Armas in the mystery-thrillerDeep Water. That year he returned for the second season ofEuphoria, which became one of the most-watched seasons of an HBO series. During this time Elordireprised the role of Noah Flynn inThe Kissing Booth 2 (2020) andThe Kissing Booth 3 (2021).
Priscilla andSaltburn
In 2023 Elordi gained his first production credit as an executive producer forHe Went That Way, a drama inspired by a real-life serial killer; he also acted in the film. Elordi’s next set of roles earned him major critical recognition. That year he starred asElvis Presley inSofia Coppola’s biopicPriscilla, which told the story of the rock singer’s courtship of and marriage toPriscilla Presley (played byCailee Spaeny). Elordi did extensive research on the “King of Rock and Roll,” and his dark and complex performance was praised by critics and Priscilla Presley herself. Later that year Elordi also earned acclaim for his performance inEmerald Fennell’sSaltburn. The thriller centers on the relationship between an aristocratic student (Elordi) and his classmate (Barry Keoghan) as they spend the summer at the former’s family estate.
Continuing to pursuediverse roles, Elordi starred withRichard Gere andUma Thurman in Paul Schrader’sOh, Canada (2024). The drama, which is based on a novel byRussell Banks, centers on an aging documentarian who years earlier had left theUnited States for Canada to avoid theVietnam War draft. The following year Elordi portrayed an Australianprisoner of war who was forced to help build theBurma Railway duringWorld War II in theAmazon Prime seriesThe Narrow Road to the Deep North, anadaptation of a novel byRichard Flanagan.
