Jacob Elordi’s costume for Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein would be enough to make any sane person snap.
But according to the costume designers, Elordi had the patience of a saint.
The Australian actor has been on a roll with exciting film projects, having recently announced he will be playing Heathcliff in the upcoming Wuthering Heights adaptation, with Margot Robbie cast opposite him.
Now, he’s taken on the role as the famous literary monster of Dr Frankenstein, which requires an overwhelming amount of time sitting still in a chair every day.
To think, we almost didn’t get Elordi as the monster at all, and it was only due to Andrew Garfield dropping out weeks before filming began because of scheduling conflict, that he was cast.
Jacob Elordi became the monster (Netflix)
Starring opposite Oscar Isaac’s Victor Frankenstein, Elordi became the perfect canvas to paint the monster on.
“I know that there’s a lot of press saying how good [Elordi] was physically for the part, [standing at] 6’5”. Yes, he was a fabulous canvas for me to play with and to work this creature on,” prosthetic makeup effects department head Mike Hill told ELLE. “But there’s also a soul in there, and there’s an active performance in there.”
Elordi, even though he had mere weeks to prepare for the role, was able to spend every day turning himself into the monstrosity.
Mostly, this was able to happen because it took up to ten hours to apply the creature’s prosthetics from head to toe.
“Without Jacob Elordi’s patience, this would not have been possible,” said Hill.
According to him, Elordi didn’t get upset, or angry, like he had warned him before filming. Instead, he took his dog into the trailer with him.
He took his time in the chair well (Netflix)
According to ELLE, there were 42 pieces for the full-body look, with 14 being allocated for the head and neck.
It then took around 90 minutes to remove the makeup, and an inflatable sauna was used to help peel it all off.
Hill shared that he’d warned Elordi about the horrid process, telling the outlet: “I said, ‘Look, Jacob, you’re going to hate my face at 2am when I’m leaning over you, and I’m going to hate yours because you’re hating mine.’”
But Elordi took it in his stride, which led to Hill declaring that he’s ‘never known a better subject’.
“He didn’t complain. But I know there’s inner turmoil. How could there not be?” Hill said.
