Guillermo del Toro has revealed the surprising reason Jacob Elordi was cast in Frankenstein
Jacob Elordi is unrecognisable as Frankenstein’s Monster in Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein. (Don Arnold/WireImage)
Jacob Elordi is unrecognisable as Frankenstein's Monster in Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein. (Don Arnold/WireImage)
Guillermo del Toro has shared the reason why he cast Saltburn star Jacob Elordi as the iconic monster in Frankenstein, and it’s incredibly specific.
Jacob Elordi replaced Andrew Garfield as the creature created by Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac) after the We Live In Time actor had to pull out due to scheduling conflicts,
Speaking to Variety ahead of the film’s debut at the Venice Film Festival on 30 August, del Toro shared his reasons for casting Elordi.
“I saw Saltburn,” the Oscar-winning director began. “And I loved [Elordi’s] innocence and openness. He plays the victim of a Tom Ripley-type of character. And I thought he played it with a lot of range.” Del Toro added, “His character was also capable of being high class and cruel. Jacob’s eyes are so full of humanity. I cast him because of his eyes.”
The director of Pan’s Labyrinth also revealed his decision making about the look of the monster, a character he has been drawing for decades after becoming fascinated with the Frankenstein story.
“I knew I didn’t want symmetrical scars and I didn’t want sutures or clamps. What I thought was very interesting was to make him like a jigsaw puzzle. I wanted him to look beautiful, like a newborn thing,” del Toro said. He went on to say he didn’t want his version of the monster to look like “an accident victim” and saw the creator, Victor, “as much an artist as he is a surgeon.” Therefore, “the cuts had to make aesthetic sense.”
Audiences got their first look at Elordi in the iconic role back in July when the first trailer dropped. Images also showed off a small glimpse of Elordi. He appears with greenish-looking skin with his eyes peeking out from his robes. This new look hasn’t stopped horny fans from thirsting after the Saltburn star, with one person writing on one post, “I still would.”
Speaking to Vanity Fair about the role, Elordi said he transformed his apartment “into this shrine to all things that I felt pertained to the creature.” This included Bernie Wrightson’s illustrations of the 1983 version of Frankenstein.
Frankenstein will be released in cinemas for three weeks from 17 October. It will then be available to stream on Netflix from 7 November.
