Jacob Elordi on Working With Margot Robbie, the Art of Shame and More | The One

You have something right there. Come get it. No, it's... Come on. You got it, don't worry. Just looking out for you. Thanks. What kind of friend wouldn't? You got nothing on your face. You look great. Thank you. If it weren't for acting, what's one thing you would be doing instead? I'd like to have bees. I'd love to be a beekeeper. I like how they all have an assigned job. And I actually just learned recently that honey never goes off. So they make this indestructible product just because. It just seems like a really beautiful system. And there's a lot of respect for the queen. So much respect for the queen. Who is one person that you call almost every day? I call my mom probably three times a day, I would say. Three, four times a day. My mom is a saint. She's my best friend in the world. And I would be completely at sea without her. I read that she was one of the initial people that was really encouraging you to act. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. She really wanted to put me in the theater. There was no other kind of outlet for my behavior. So I think it was like, it's either this or we have to lock you away somewhere. Since then, you've played several complex characters. Which one taught you the most? You learn something in the experience every time. Because most of the time, it's somewhere near six months of your life. The experience of them changes, too, afterward. You know, years later, something that felt a certain way at the time feels so different in retrospect. But they're also evasive. You know those things that they used to sell them? They got like liquid in them and little like sea creatures and stuff. And you go like this with your hands. No. Do you know this? Did you have a childhood? Were you raised? I'll let my mom know. Yeah, let her know. No, it's like that, you know. The tighter you squeeze it, it slips through your hands. It's kind of like that, I think, sometimes with a character. The more you kind of constrict it, it sort of slips away and you have to go find it again. We'd just come out of the bottle. We just got like some beers or something like that. I can't remember what for. I knew I had to have my phone on me. It was like glued to my pocket. And then it rang. It was to let me know that I'd got the first movie that I was going to be in. It's called The Kissing Booth. Will you work The Kissing Booth? Absolutely not. And what was your life like at the time? I was in drama school in that beautiful moment when you're totally invigorated by the by the craft of acting. And the dream is still sort of so, so rich. It gives you like so much sustenance, you know. You're now returning to Netflix as Frankenstein's creature. In seeking life, I created death. What's one reason you wanted to play that role? He's one of the original archetypes of a character. You know, he's everything. He's everything and nothing at the same time. As an actor, you get to strip yourself down to nothing and then build a human being, like a real human being, the purest kind of human being that they can be. I hear you're also a big fan of the director of that film, Guillermo del Toro. Yeah. What's one thing you thought when he asked you to play that part? Why? What was the answer? I don't know. I'll ask myself probably for a long time. It was so deeply personal from the moment that he asked me. It just, it kind of felt like, it felt like kismet. I remember going through Blockbuster and I used to raid the horror aisle. Pan's Labyrinth was in that section. And I remember the back of the DVD case, seeing this creature with the eyes in his hands. And I had just never been so moved by character. So from a young age, I mean, I've had that, that movie has been instilled in my brain. Guillermo's world is so rich and specific and beautiful. I would just live in there. Yeah. Quick question. What's Blockbuster? I'm just kidding. I'm kidding. How old are you? I'm older than people now. You've been in a few films that Margot Robbie's company produced, like Saltburn and now Wuthering Heights. I can follow you like a dog to the end of the world. What's one thing you admire about Margot Robbie? Probably just how specific she is with the films that she makes and her heart. She has a good heart. Yeah, big one. And those two films were also same director, correct? Yeah, Emeril Fanel. Emeril's a genius. I think her cinema is some of the most important You worked with another big name recently, Ridley Scott for the Dog Stars. What's one of your favorite films he's made? I sat down to watch The Counselor while I was making Dog Stars. And it's a fantastic movie. It's a really, really fantastic film. I mean, obviously like Blade Runner when she's smashing through those sheets of glass and the neon is just untouchable, it's genius. Ridley Scott asked you to make a movie. You go make the movie. I mean, he's like a pioneer of cinema. What's one lost art you wish came back in style? The art of shame. I wish people could experience shame a little heavier. What's one mystery about yourself that you hope no one solves? It wouldn't really be a mystery if I told you now, would it? And that's exactly what apparently you're supposed to say. When you're not on set, you're often caught with a book in hand. What is? Isn't that a shame? You can't even read in peace, you know? It's like reading becomes a gimmick and everyone's like, I see you reading. Well, why aren't they reading? Because they're on their phones. What's one book you wish you could reread for the first time? Skullduggery Pleasant, the first one. It's just a great skeleton detective story. I read it at the age that you're sort of supposed to be when you read it and it's just, I never remember loving a book so much. What age was that? Maybe like 12 or 13, I could be wrong, but something like that. What's one thing you would tell that kid today? I'd probably say, I'm pretty proud of you. You know, you're doing a pretty good job. Do you think he would know that? Oh yeah, he's so cocky. Like he wouldn't need it. He'd be like, shut the **** up. But I would, I'd be really proud of him.