Jacob Elordi recently won the Critics Choice Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as The Creature in director Guillermo del Toro’s take on “Frankenstein”. Elordi was also Golden Globe nominated, is on the Actor Awards ballot, and will likely be an Oscar nominee.
I didn’t see the trio of Netflix’s “The Kissing Booth” films, or watch HBO’s “Euphoria”, so my on-screen introduction to Elordi was the romantic dramatic thriller “Deep Water”, co-starring Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas. But he really impressed me as Elvis Presley in Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla”, alongside a fantastic Cailee Spaeny. He was also part of the ensemble of drama “On Swift Horses”, an indie with potential but was never as powerful as it could’ve been.
Elordi teamed-up with Academy Award winner Emerald Fennell (“Promising Young Woman”) for 2023’s “Saltburn”. They are collaborating again for the upcoming Warner Bros. release “Wuthering Heights”, joining Margot Robbie for this Emily Bronte adaptation. I think it’s going to be a big hit over that Valentine’s Day weekend — maybe not to the degree of “Fifty Shades of Grey” in 2015, but don’t underestimate the impact of a rom-dram in theaters for that holiday.
Will any negative reviews of “Wuthering Heights” hurt Elordi’s chances of an Oscar win? Possibly. But I think there are still a lot of “Frankenstein” fans who admire his performance. And if “Wuthering Heights” is a critical and box office success, that would certainly help him — against potential competitors Paul Mescal, Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro, Stellan Skarsgard, Miles Caton and/or Adam Sandler.
Elordi’s next major movie, Ridley Scott’s sci-fi “The Dog Stars”, with Margaret Qualley and Josh Brolin, is currently set for an August 28th theatrical release. And on the TV side, “Euphoria” returns for its third and final season on HBO on April 12th.