When it comes to cinematic transformations, few things test an actor’s patience like hours in the makeup chair. But for Jacob Elordi, becoming Frankenstein’s monster for his latest role wasn’t just a physical transformation, but also a cathartic one. And if you’ve seen the epic full Frankenstein trailer for the forthcoming 2025 movie release, you know the change is nothing short of astonishing, or as Guillermo del Toro put it, a beautiful creature transformation.
During a red carpet interview, captured in a Deadline TikTok video, Elordi opened up about the experience of spending a full 10 hours in makeup to embody the iconic character. Far from being grueling, the process had a strangely freeing effect on the actor. He shared:
The makeup process was incredibly liberating. It was 10 hours to kind of relinquish myself and become this thing that’s other, you know, which was a great relief. Really.
That wasn’t an exaggeration. According to Frankenstein director Guillermo del Toro, the Euphoria star underwent an extensive transformation each day of filming, involving more than 42 individual prosthetic pieces. Speaking with E! News at the film’s October 6 premiere, del Toro said, “He did it all with grace and patience and love.”
The Oscar-winning filmmaker added that he encouraged the young actor to see the process as sacred, like a ritual, which the actor took very seriously. The Pan’s Labyrinth visionary added:
I told him, ‘Look, it’s like when a priest is getting dressed… You’re invoking the Creature.’ And the result is heartbreaking and beautiful.
But Elordi’s commitment didn’t stop at makeup. Per E!’s reporting, the 28-year-old performer also took Japanese butoh dance classes to physically ground the Creature’s movements and studied the Book of Job to emotionally anchor the performance. The result, del Toro says, is a portrayal that’s “emotionally so close to innocence it breaks your heart.” This comment from the filmmaker tracks with what he’s said before about the upcoming horror movie and how it would be a genre blend of “tragedy, romance, and a philosophical reflection” of what it means to be human.
Elordi, who stars alongside a stellar cast that includes Oscar Isaac, Mia Goth, Christoph Waltz, and Charles Dance, wasn’t always sure how to approach such an iconic role. He initially hesitated to watch previous iterations of Frankenstein’s monster, and there’s no shortage of actors to look to, from Boris Karloff to Robert De Niro, until del Toro convinced him otherwise with a perfectly blunt response:
My friend, it’s a movie, it can’t fucking hurt you.
With that, Jacob Elordi went home and binge-watched every version of the monster he could find, but ultimately made the character entirely his own.
Countless actors have portrayed Frankenstein’s monster over the years, but the Wuthering Heights star’s own words and unwavering dedication signal to me a fresh and likely more emotionally complex take on the iconic creature. And personally, I can’t wait to see it.
Frankenstein will debut in select theaters on October 17 before becoming available to stream for everyone with a Netflix subscription on November 7.