Movies

Euphoria's Jacob Elordi Suddenly Shades The Movies That Kickstarted His Career

Euphoria's Jacob Elordi Suddenly Shades The Movies That Kickstarted His Career
Image credit: A24, HBO, Netflix

Let's face it, The Kissing Booth has always been nothing more than a guilty pleasure.

Summary:

  • Jacob Elordi has had a very quick rise to fame, which began with The Kissing Booth.
  • Although The Kissing Booth was Elordi's springboard to high-profile films, he now considers the teen franchise ridiculous and reveals that he didn't want to act in it.

Five or six years ago, no one had ever heard of Jacob Elordi. In 2017, he had just graduated from college in his native Brisbane, and by 2022 he was starring in Deep Water, an erotic thriller with Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas, and portraying not just a historical figure but Elvis Presley himself in Sofia Coppola's new film Priscilla.

A wax figure of him has been placed at Madame Tussauds in Sydney, and GQ magazine has called him "Gen Z' leading man."

The Kissing Booth Was Jacob Elordi's Springboard

Euphoria's Jacob Elordi Suddenly Shades The Movies That Kickstarted His Career - image 1

Elordi's popularity began with the movie The Kissing Booth. Nobody expected anything special from a carefree and moderately silly teen rom-com about first love, where the main character likes her best friend's brother. But the best friend's brother was played by Jacob Elordi.

His torso (Jacob worked out twice a day to prepare for the role), which he flashed on screen from time to time, and his height, which would be the envy of many basketball players, attracted so much attention that the movie became one of the most watched on Netflix, started a franchise and two more installments were filmed.

Jacob Elordi Lowkey Hated The Kissing Booth

Euphoria's Jacob Elordi Suddenly Shades The Movies That Kickstarted His Career - image 2

However, now that the actor has achieved his well-deserved fame and can choose where he wants to act, Elordi apparently only sees The Kissing Booth as a stepping stone, of which he is not very proud. The actor shared his opinion about the teen franchise in an interview with Variety:

“I didn’t want to make those movies before I made those movies. Those movies are ridiculous. They’re not universal. They’re an escape.”

Indeed, the franchise is just too secondary in its core, and without Elordi it might have been lost among dozens of similar teen romances.

The movie does not bring anything new or original to either the romance genre or the teenage troubles storyline. Netflix has a huge gallery of quality movies that are sure to deliver more value and excitement than The Kissing Booth.

However, someone might just like a simple, uncomplicated movie that you can watch in the background.

Sources: GQ, Variety