Jacob Elordi Unveils Monster Transformation in Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein
The Euphoria star sheds his heartthrob image, stepping into del Toro’s Gothic masterpiece while opening up about fatherhood dreams.
Los Angeles, October 1 EST: Jacob Elordi has officially gone full monster mode and fans can’t look away. The first full trailer for Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein just dropped, revealing the Euphoria star buried under prosthetics and shadow, while at the same time, a new profile is peeling back the man underneath: one who dreams of becoming a dad someday.
The Monster Reveal Everyone’s Been Waiting For
The trailer, unveiled Tuesday, finally gives a clean shot of Elordi as Shelley’s most famous creature. It’s classic del Toro: candlelit gloom, gothic melodrama, and a creature who looks both terrifying and heartbreakingly human. As Entertainment Weekly points out, the camera lingers on Elordi’s altered face, as if to say, “Yep, it’s him and no, you’ve never seen him like this before.”
For Elordi, who spent the last few years oscillating between toxic teen heartthrob (Euphoria) and aristocratic menace (Saltburn), this role is a left turn. Gone is the smooth, chiseled star. In his place? A stitched-together figure of sorrow, carrying the weight of del Toro’s tragic vision. Fans online are already calling the look “unrecognizable”,the kind of transformation Hollywood still loves to mythologize.
From Garfield To Gothic Hero
What makes this even juicier: Elordi wasn’t supposed to be here. As The Wall Street Journal reports, he replaced Andrew Garfield just nine weeks before cameras rolled. Most actors would panic at the thought. Elordi? He dove in headfirst, studying butoh dance an avant-garde Japanese movement style that trades in agony and intensity to reshape his body language into something “other.” Add layers of prosthetics, and suddenly he’s gone from heartthrob to horror icon-in-waiting.
He’s described the casting shakeup almost like fate. In his words, it felt as if the role had chosen him. That might sound lofty, but it tracks: Elordi has been angling for a project that pushes him beyond the obvious. Frankenstein could be the career marker that shifts him from breakout talent to leading man in the “give him the Oscar makeup chair” tradition.
Offscreen, A Softer Side Emerges
And then there’s the curveball. While his monster is stitched together with grief, Elordi is out here telling the Journal that what he really wants is… kids. “It would make me the happiest person in the world,” he said, adding that he’d love to give his future children the same kind of warm, protected upbringing he had.
That reveal, picked up by People, is the kind of personal beat fans latch onto. For a star who’s often photographed as impossibly tall, impossibly stylish, and a little aloof, suddenly talking about fatherhood feels disarming. He’s playing a monster on screen, but off it, he’s leaning into something a lot more tender.
Why This Moment Matters
Culturally, the timing is delicious. Horror is having a prestige run from A24’s psychological nightmares to Jordan Peele’s social thrillers and del Toro is arguably the master of weaving monster stories into mainstream awards conversations. With Elordi at the center, Frankenstein isn’t just another gothic retelling. It’s a test: can the 27-year-old, who first broke into global consciousness through Netflix rom-coms, carry the weight of a capital-G “serious” role?
Social media thinks so. The instant reactions to the trailer? Equal parts thirst and awe. Fans are split between “how is this even Jacob Elordi?” and “inject this Gothic drama straight into my veins.” The fact that his personal revelation about wanting children dropped within hours of the trailer only adds to the duality. He’s both monster and man, nightmare and nurturing and right now, that contrast is working in his favor.
The Bigger Picture
If Frankenstein hits, it could mark a definitive pivot in Elordi’s career, putting him on the path once taken by Robert Pattinson (from sparkly vampire to auteur darling) or Christian Bale (from American Psycho to Batman to awards circuit regular).
But even if awards chatter is still months away, one thing’s already clear: Jacob Elordi is living that rare kind of Hollywood double life. On screen, he’s the most famous monster of all time. Off screen, he’s just a guy who wants a family. And for fans, that contrast is the reason they’re paying attention.
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