Jacob Elordi has never shied away from roles that push him to extremes — emotionally, physically, and mentally. But the actor now reveals that his most harrowing moment in front of the camera ended up unlocking his approach to one of the biggest performances of his career: Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein.

In a new interview with the Los Angeles Times, the Euphoria and Saltburn star opened up about a difficult period leading into del Toro’s long-awaited adaptation of Mary Shelley’s legendary Gothic novel. Just before filming began, Elordi had wrapped on Prime Video’s The Narrow Road to the Deep North, a World War II miniseries that demanded a staggering physical transformation. To bring his character’s traumatic experiences to life, he underwent extreme weight loss — a process he now describes as both painful and isolating.

“My mind was scattered everywhere,” he explained, recalling countless nights where he would bolt awake, gripped by throbbing aches. “Around three in the morning, I’d wake up and my body was in such pain. There were moments where the anguish felt overwhelming.”

What he couldn’t have known at the time was that this exhaustion and emotional fragility would become unexpectedly valuable when he stepped into the role of Frankenstein’s Creature — a character defined by loneliness, confusion, and existential suffering. As he processed his own turmoil, Elordi found a deeper connection to the Creature’s tragedy.

“Looking back, it was a blessing,” the actor shared. “All of those feelings — the pain, the disorientation — I could use them. I could articulate the Creature’s suffering from a very real place.”

Elordi admits he was wrestling with a personal crisis as he wrapped production on the miniseries. Success, fame, and scrutiny had left him questioning what he wanted out of the industry and whether he could continue performing under so much pressure.

He describes feeling weighed down by “the unbearable weight of being,” unsure if acting was still something he could approach with joy or purpose.

“At that point in my life, I wanted to disappear,” he confessed. “I wanted to step away from everything… to feel normal again. To rebuild how I acted and why I made movies in the first place.”

So when del Toro’s script arrived, his first instinct was hesitation — even dread. He craved silence and anonymity, not another emotionally demanding role. But as he read deeper into the Creature’s identity, he realized that the experience might be exactly what he needed.

“I understood very quickly: this was the place I needed to disappear into,” he said. “I wasn’t hiding from the world — I was hiding inside this character. It felt like a mask of freedom.”

Del Toro’s vision required Elordi to undergo a grueling daily makeup transformation. What many would view as an exhausting ritual, the actor came to see as strangely comforting — even freeing.

The elaborate prosthetics stripped away his own recognizable features and replaced them with something entirely other. Behind the monster’s haunting exterior, he felt protected and unrestricted.

“I didn’t have to be me anymore,” he said. “For six months, I lived inside this new skin. And when filming ended, I emerged with a completely rebuilt sense of self.”

It wasn’t just a role — it was a reset. A rebirth that mirrored the creature’s own transformation.

Del Toro’s Frankenstein brings a powerhouse cast along with Elordi. Oscar Isaac takes on the role of Dr. Victor Frankenstein, the haunted pioneer unwilling to face the consequences of his experiments. Mia Goth and Christoph Waltz round out the ensemble, promising a version of the story grounded as much in human emotion as in Gothic horror.

The film arrives first in select theaters before Netflix releases it globally on November 7. Early critical reception has been glowing. The Hollywood Reporter’s chief film critic David Rooney praised del Toro’s take as a sensory and emotional marvel.

He describes it as a sweeping and deeply moving retelling — one that leans into romance, tragedy, and existential philosophy rather than pure terror. Rooney calls it “one of del Toro’s finest,” celebrating its rare blend of artistry, passion, and cinematic spectacle.

Mary Shelley’s original masterpiece has always been a tale about creation, rejection, and a desperate longing to belong. Elordi found that theme cutting eerily close to his own experience — providing the clarity he had been seeking.

By embodying a character who is feared and misunderstood despite craving love and purpose, Elordi rediscovered his own.

“I came out of this film with a whole new skin,” he said — both literally and metaphorically.

His suffering may have begun as a burden. But through del Toro’s bold creative lens, it was reshaped into something powerful, healing, and surprisingly hopeful.

Frankenstein has been reinterpreted over 200 years, but Elordi’s journey reminds us why the Creature remains one of storytelling’s most enduring figures. His anguish is universal. His longing is human. And his search for identity mirrors our own.

For Jacob Elordi, stepping into the darkness didn’t just illuminate a character — it helped him find his way back to himself.