In the glittering chaos of Hollywood, where dreams are often manufactured on assembly lines and forgotten just as quickly, some stories feel destined—like threads woven by fate itself. Jacob Elordi, the 28-year-old Australian heartthrob who skyrocketed from teen drama sensation to awards-season contender, has long harbored a secret aspiration that traces back to his boyhood bedroom in Brisbane. It wasn’t fame or fortune that ignited his passion; it was the haunting, blood-soaked beauty of Guillermo del Toro’s 2006 masterpiece, Pan’s Labyrinth. As a wide-eyed 13- or 14-year-old flipping through DVD covers at a local Blockbuster, Elordi stumbled upon the infamous Pale Man—eyes in palms, skin sagging like melted wax—and something clicked. “I came running through the corridor and I was like, ‘I need this DVD,’” he recalled in a candid interview with the Los Angeles Times, his voice alive with the memory. His mother warned of the gore, but young Jacob was undeterred. That film didn’t just entertain him; it rewired him, planting a seed that would bloom into an unbreakable dream: to one day work with the visionary Mexican director who dared to blend fairy tales with fascism, beauty with brutality.

Fast-forward to 2025, and that childhood wish has manifested in the most surreal way imaginable. Elordi stars as the Creature in del Toro’s long-cherished adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, a Netflix epic that premiered to rapturous acclaim at the Venice Film Festival and hit theaters in limited release before streaming on November 7. Opposite Oscar Isaac’s tormented Victor Frankenstein and alongside Mia Goth’s ethereal Elizabeth, Elordi’s portrayal—buried under layers of intricate prosthetics yet radiating raw humanity—has critics hailing it as the emotional core of the film. “Spellbinding,” Isaac called him. “The soul of the movie,” echoed reviews from IndieWire and beyond. But for Elordi, this isn’t just a career pinnacle; it’s cosmic payback. “It’s absolutely surreal,” he told Gwyneth Paltrow on her Goop podcast, his signature baritone softening with awe. “From that moment… there was some kind of curse set upon me.” A curse? More like a blessing—one that turned a teenager’s obsession into a collaboration that feels predestined.

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The roots of Elordi’s fascination run deep, intertwined with del Toro’s own mythic storytelling. Pan’s Labyrinth, del Toro’s dark fairy tale set against the brutal backdrop of Franco’s Spain, isn’t just a film—it’s a portal. Young Ofelia’s descent into a labyrinthine underworld, guarded by the grotesque Faun and the nightmarish Pale Man, captured the imagination of millions, grossing $83 million worldwide and snagging three Oscars, including Best Cinematography and Best Art Direction. For del Toro, it was a labor of love, drawn from notebooks filled with doodles spanning decades. “It’s a parable,” he has said, blending horror with hope in a way that lingers like a fever dream. Elordi, growing up in suburban Australia, found in it a mirror for his own burgeoning love of monsters and magic. “I was into monsters and all these sorts of things,” he shared, recalling how the film’s visceral imagery—the Pale Man’s banquet of forbidden fruit, eyes inserted into stigmata-like palms—haunted and inspired him. It wasn’t fear that hooked him; it was wonder. Del Toro’s ability to humanize the grotesque, to weave empathy into terror, struck a chord in the young actor who would later channel similar duality in roles like the menacing Nate Jacobs in Euphoria or the charismatic yet chilling Felix Catton in Saltburn.

That early enchantment evolved into a quiet manifesto. As Elordi navigated his breakout—first in Netflix’s The Kissing Booth trilogy, then exploding onto the A-list with Euphoria—he carried del Toro’s influence like a talisman. In interviews, he spoke of manifesting big dreams, joking with co-stars about future projects. When del Toro’s Frankenstein was greenlit in 2023, with Andrew Garfield initially attached as the Creature, Elordi was already whispering his desire into the universe. Fate intervened: Scheduling conflicts from the SAG-AFTRA strikes forced Garfield out, and del Toro, scrambling with mere weeks before production, turned to a recommendation from a hair stylist who’d worked with Elordi on Priscilla. “Get f**ed! You’re joking!” Elordi exclaimed upon hearing the offer, per his retelling. He devoured the script in hours, diving headfirst into the role that would require 42 prosthetics, mismatched contact lenses for asymmetrical eyes, and a physical transformation that left him unrecognizable—yet profoundly vulnerable.

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Del Toro’s Frankenstein is no mere retelling; it’s a passion project decades in the making, a “dream or more than that, a religion” for the director since childhood. Faithful to Shelley’s novel yet infused with del Toro’s signature gothic romanticism, the film explores creation, abandonment, and the monstrous within us all. Elordi’s Creature—stitched from battlefield corpses, awakened to a world that recoils in horror—is heartbreakingly innocent, his wide eyes (those “very human eyes” del Toro praised) conveying wonder and pain in equal measure. Critics rave: “Elordi gives poignant life to the most emotionally complex Frankenstein monster since Boris Karloff,” wrote IndieWire. His performance, layered with physicality honed from ballet influences (thanks to his sister’s training), captures the tragedy of a being yearning for connection in a cruel world.

On set, the collaboration was electric. Del Toro, ever the generous maestro, fostered an environment of trust and improvisation. “Guillermo has dedicated his entire being to cinema and to dreams,” Elordi said in a BFI interview alongside Isaac. The director, drawing from personal traumas—including his father’s kidnapping—infused the film with themes of broken families and redemption. Elordi, stepping into prosthetics designed by Mike Hill (a del Toro regular), spent hours in the makeup chair, emerging as a towering, scarred figure whose grace belied the horror. “Everything in this movie is full-scale and handmade,” del Toro emphasized, a rebuke to CGI overload. Scenes of the Creature’s awakening—gasping for breath, discovering snowflakes on his palm—echo Pan’s Labyrinth‘s magical realism, blending terror with tenderness.

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Elordi’s path to this moment is a testament to manifestation’s quiet power. From Brisbane school plays to Euphoria‘s raw intensity, Saltburn‘s decadent menace, and Priscilla‘s brooding Elvis, he’s proven a chameleon—tall, brooding, yet disarmingly vulnerable. Replacing Garfield was no small feat, but Elordi’s height (6’5″) and expressive eyes made him ideal for del Toro’s humanized monster. “He can play both Adam and Jesus,” del Toro texted Isaac upon casting him. The film, with its $120 million budget and epic scope—Victorian labs, icy Arctic chases, philosophical monologues—feels like del Toro’s magnum opus, blending Pan’s Labyrinth‘s fairy-tale darkness with The Shape of Water‘s empathetic monsters.

Reviews pour in glowing: An 85% on Rotten Tomatoes, praise for Elordi’s “standout” turn as the film’s beating heart. “Finding the humanity in one of cinema’s most iconic monsters,” the consensus reads. For Elordi, it’s vindication. “Now to be on a plane with him… it’s absolutely surreal,” he marveled. His mother, once wary of del Toro’s gore, now beams with pride—though she might still tease about that forbidden DVD.

In an industry of fleeting trends, Elordi’s story inspires: A boy entranced by a Pale Man’s gaze grows into the Creature himself, guided by the master who conjured it. Frankenstein isn’t just a film; it’s proof that dreams, whispered in childhood darkness, can thunder into reality. As del Toro’s monster awakens to a hostile world, Elordi awakens to his destiny—proving that sometimes, the most monstrous journeys lead to the most beautiful transformations.

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