Okay, we can breathe easy: We have confirmation that Jacob Elordi was not at all like his rage-filled Euphoria character when he was in high school. Phew!
In a new GQ profile—in which he’s dubbed “Gen Z’s leading man”—Elordi opened up about his overnight fame thanks to the success of Netflix‘s teen rom-com series, The Kissing Booth, and how the phenomenon that is Euphoria is shaping the future of his career.
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It’s that latter role that might give the impression that Elordi’s some sort of brooding bruiser not to be crossed. His Nate Jacobs is a physically and mentally abusive alpha-jock, a reprehensible rager made only slightly sympathetic by the fact that his strict father is harboring more than a few dark secrets of his own.
As we come to find out over the course of this series, much of Nate’s behavior is a result of internalized homophobia—a macho mask to ensure no one even suspects he might be gay. Nate is toxic masculinity personified.
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At 6’5″ tall, the chiseled Elordi might look the part. But, as the GQ feature makes clear, he’s much more thoughtful and secure in himself than his Euphoria role—and he takes his acting very seriously.
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In the piece, the Australian star reflects on his high school experience. In balancing his athletic side with the emerging thespian in him, Elordi encountered more than a few classmates who teased him because of his interests.
“From the moment I did a play I was called gay at school,” he shares. “But I had this abundance of confidence in myself. Because I could do both: I was quite good at sport and I think I was quite good at theater. I felt like I was above it, or it made me feel older. It made me feel wiser. I never was worried that my peers would think that I was less than a man.”
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As Elordi tells it, the name-calling only made him double down on his artistic pursuits. He cites a specific instance where he played Oberon, King of the Fairies, in a staging of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream:
“When they said I was gay, I remember leaning into the makeup. I was like, if I’m going to be the King of the Fairies, I’m going to be the f*cking hottest King of the Fairies you’ve ever seen. I started welcoming those kinds of characters. I started welcoming the femininity. I started speaking with my hands. I started really playing the thespian.”
Related: Euphoria’s Jacob Elordi has something to show you
That role was a transformative one for the young actor, helping him realize that there was a power in subverting expectations, in breaking free of a black-and-white way of thinking.
“I stepped away from beer culture and from sport culture,” Elordi remembers, “and I was like, ‘Well, if you think this is gay, I’m going to be who I am when I was your friend, which is this hetero guy, but I’m going to play the arts. I’m going to do it, and I’m going to show you that’s bullshit.’ I could never understand, how could you label anything, ever? How could you label sport as masculine? How does your sexuality inform your prowess as an athlete, or your prowess as a performer?”
Citing screen legends like Marlon Brando and Laurence Olivier as his inspirations, Elordi aims to follow in the grand tradition of “the leading man,” but gives us hope that the future of Hollywood is one with less hang-ups about the gender binary, sexuality, and masculinity.
At the very least, it’s a relief that he seems like a pretty well-adjusted, open-minded guy—thankfully not at all like the one he plays on TV.
And now back to your regularly scheduled thirsting.
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Donston
I like Jordan. And I think he’s hot and has some passable talent. But I say that “leaning into” a certain aesthetic is not always the greatest option, especially if you’re coming from a place of privilege or coming from a place of being the dominant culture. It’s very easy for that “leaning in” to become exploitative or leech-like behaviors. There’s a reason Harry Styles got so much praise, criticism, attention for wearing ugly blouses but no one really cares about unabashedly queer males doing so. There’s a reason someone who is “black” like Zendaya can have the exact career she’s wanted and can do practically anything she wants while other young black female actors have not had all those litany of opportunities. There’s a reason we see so many people constantly hype up their queerness online and adapt a “queer aesthetic” online, but offline they’re “straight passing”, appear “gender normal”, live relatively hetero lifestyles, have never had legit queer relationships, have never had a legit public gay commitment. “Leaning in” for the sake of rebellion or to be different can come off exploitative if you’re really not about that life and you have a lot of privilege. Being white, cis, good-looking, tall, buff, “straight passing”, only having hetero commitments or being heterosexual or overall hetero-leaning, never having any gay commitments- these are always gonna be things that give you privilege no matter how much of an outsider you feel like or no matter what queer dimensions you may have. That’s something folks need to remember when they decide to “lean in”.
However, yes to less hang-ups around masculinity, sexuality, preferences, “gender norms”, who you love and want to commit to. “Leaning in” is a precarious territory when you have certain innate privileges and proximity to power and the dominant culture.
Donston
Meant Jacob, not Jordan.
MrMichaelJ
OMG, I’ve finally reached that point of “Who?”….
Wow, old age is real.