Jacob Elordi: The Actor Behind Hollywood’s Most Talked-About Roles

Few actors have moved from teen streaming favorite to serious dramatic lead as quickly as Jacob Elordi. In just a few years, the Australian actor went from playing high school heartthrobs to starring in Oscar-buzzy films directed by some of the most distinctive filmmakers working today. Whether you know him as the brooding Nate Jacobs from Euphoria or the young Elvis Presley in the 2022 biopic, Elordi has proven he’s more than just a pretty face with a towering frame. Here’s a closer look at his career, his choices, and why he keeps showing up in conversations about the future of Hollywood.
**Early Life and the Road to Acting**
Jacob Elordi was born on June 26, 1997, in Brisbane, Australia. He grew up in a family that valued sports and academics — his father worked as a chef and his mother was a pediatric nurse — and the young Elordi initially had no real plans to become an actor. He attended high school in Brisbane and spent time in theater productions, which gradually sparked something in him. Soon after graduating, he decided to give acting a serious go, moving between Australia and the United States to pursue roles.
Like many Australian actors before him, Elordi landed small parts early on, including a role in the Australian fantasy series The Slap and the film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, where he had a minor military role. But those early credits were hardly a sign of what was coming. His breakout moment arrived when Netflix cast him in a little romantic comedy based on a popular young-adult book series — and everything changed.
**The Kissing Booth and Instant Fame**
The Kissing Booth, released on Netflix in 2018, was not designed to be a critical darling. But it found an enormous audience among teenagers, and Elordi became an overnight sensation as Noah Flynn, the older brother of the protagonist’s best friend. The film’s success — and its two sequels — turned Elordi into a recognizable name in households around the world.
Looking back, it’s easy to dismiss those films as fluffy distractions. But they served an important purpose in Elordi’s career: they introduced him to a global audience and gave him the kind of platform that most young actors only dream of. At the same time, they created an image that Elordi has spent the last few years intentionally moving away from. The charming, slightly dangerous love interest in The Kissing Booth was a persona, not the full picture.
Instead of chasing more projects in that same lane, Elordi chose to work with darker, more complex material. And that decision is a big part of why his career has aged so well.
**Euphoria and the Nate Jacobs Effect**
If The Kissing Booth made Elordi famous, Euphoria made him impossible to ignore. The HBO series, created by Sam Levinson, premiered in 2019 and quickly became one of the most talked-about shows on television. Elordi played Nate Jacobs, the star quarterback of a high school in a small fictional town — outwardly confident, inwardly volatile, and the source of much of the show’s tension.
Nate is not a character you root for in the traditional sense. He’s controlling, aggressive, and manipulative, but Elordi brought a level of complexity that kept audiences watching. Rather than playing Nate as a simple villain, Elordi gave him a kind of wounded, confused interiority that made his behavior feel disturbingly real. It was a bold role to take on right after a series of feel-good rom-coms, and it worked. Critics praised his performance, and the role earned him a reputation as someone willing to take risks.
In interviews, Elordi has talked about how playing a character like Nate took a toll — and how he guarded his mental health between seasons. That honesty also made him more relatable to audiences, who were used to seeing actors pretend that difficult roles come easily.
**Elvis, Priscilla, and Saltburn: A Serious Turn**
The shift toward serious filmmaking became unmistakable in 2022, when Elordi played the King of Rock and Roll in Elvis, directed by Baz Luhrmann. Taking on a role previously played by the likes of Kurt Russell and later Austin Butler in the same year was a significant challenge. Elordi’s version of Elvis appeared in the film’s later chapters, showing the singer in the final stretch of his life. It was a supporting role, but it signaled that he could hold his own in prestige productions.
Then came Priscilla, Sofia Coppola’s intimate 2023 film about Priscilla Presley, where Elordi took on Elvis again — this time from a very different angle. Where Luhrmann’s film was loud and operatic, Coppola’s was quiet and observational. Elordi’s Elvis here was still famous and magnetic, but also distant and controlling in ways that echoed his Euphoria work. It showed a performer capable of coloring within and outside the lines of expectation.
Saltburn, released the same year and directed by Emerald Fennell, was yet another sharp left turn. The film, a darkly comedic thriller about class and obsession at a British aristocratic estate, cast Elordi as Felix Catton — a golden boy whose charm masks deeper complexities. While the film divided audiences, Elordi’s performance was widely singled out as one of its strongest elements. It also became something of a cultural phenomenon, generating countless conversations and memes online.
**What Makes Jacob Elordi Stand Out**
Part of what separates Elordi from many of his peers is his physicality. At roughly 1.96 meters (about 6’5”), he is tall in a way that changes how he occupies a scene. Directors clearly understand this; his height is often used to emphasize power, discomfort, or distance. But Elordi also has a softer side that complicates his intimidating presence. His voice is measured and calm in interviews, and he tends to speak thoughtfully rather than delivering rehearsed soundbites.
He’s also become something of a style icon. From his appearances at fashion week to his minimal, understated red-carpet looks, Elordi is regularly featured in men’s fashion coverage. That interest in style feels less like branding and more like a natural extension of his interest in character and storytelling. He has described acting as a form of empathy, and that attitude carries over into how he approaches public life.
**Off-Screen: Private But Front-Page**
Elordi is famously guarded about his private life, which is understandable given how much attention he has received. His relationships — most notably with Joey King, his co-star from The Kissing Booth, and later with model Kaia Gerber — have generated endless tabloid headlines. In recent years, he’s become even more private, telling interviewers that he wants to keep his personal sphere separate from his public work.
That choice seems to have served him well. By not overexposing himself, Elordi has kept an air of mystery that feels increasingly rare in an era of oversharing. It also means audiences see his characters rather than an endless feed of personal updates.
**Upcoming Projects to Watch**
Elordi’s schedule is packed, and his upcoming roles suggest he has no intention of slowing down. He has been attached to Guillermo del Toro’s adaptation of Frankenstein, a project that will certainly draw attention given del Toro’s reputation and the film’s ensemble cast. He’s also set to appear in The Narrow Road to the Deep North, a drama based on the acclaimed novel by Richard Flanagan, directed by Justin Kurzel.
Most notably, Elordi is reported to be starring in Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights adaptation directed by Emerald Fennell, alongside Margot Robbie. Few literary characters are as famously brooding as Heathcliff, and Elordi’s casting makes sense in almost every way. The project is already one of the most anticipated films in development, and it could very well define the next phase of his career.
**Why the Conversation Keeps Following Him**
It’s rare to see a young actor pivot so deliberately away from the franchises and superhero universes that tend to lock in talent early. Elordi has hinted at a reluctance to sign on to massive multi-film commitments, preferring roles that give him room to act. That approach is something of a risk in today’s industry, where staying visible often means playing in shared universes. But so far, it’s paid off.
Jacob Elordi is still in his twenties, but his filmography already tells a story of intention. He’s not interested in being the most likable person in the room — he’s interested in being the most interesting. And in an era of carefully managed celebrity, that quality stands out more than ever.
For anyone just discovering his work, the best place to start is probably Euphoria, followed by Priscilla, then Saltburn. Together, those three performances show the range that has made him one of the most watched actors of his generation. And with what lies ahead, the only question is how far he can go.