“I would hold the boom”: Jacob Elorid would do anything for one director
I think I speak for all Jacobs everywhere when I say that Jacob Elordi has done wonders for our personal brand.
He’s tall, he’s sexy, he’s got a charming Australian accent, and he’s been part of some absolutely massive projects in his relatively short career. From his breakout role in Euphoria to his Oscar-nominated turn in Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein to his upcoming role in Ridley Scott’s The Dog Stars, his list of credits is already quite long, and there’s plenty more where that came from.
In 2023, Elordi joined an elite list of superstars to have played Elvis Presley on screen. He starred as the ‘King of Rock and Roll’ in Priscilla, which was told from the perspective of his wife, the titular character (played by Cailee Spaeny).
In stark contrast to Baz Luhrmann’s take on Presley’s life story from the year before, this presented the music legend as a dark, controlling character who leveraged his position of power to entrap a young girl in a toxic relationship. It caused quite the stir, especially from Elvis’ estate.
Despite only knowing about Elvis from Lilo & Stitch (yes, this is true), Elordi couldn’t wait to step into the spangly jumpsuit of one of the all-time greats. Although that might have had something to do with who he’d be working with. In an interview with The Washington Post, the young star revealed that he jumped at the chance to do Priscilla because it offered him the chance to work with director Sofia Coppola.
“I would hold the boom in a Sofia Coppola movie,” he said, “She’s in my church of cinema… There is no world in which any sane actor-slash-human-being says no to Sofia Coppola. And I can tell you now from this experience, you would be a genuine madman to turn away from that situation. It was probably one of the greatest things that’s ever happened in my life.”
The youngest child and only daughter of the legendary Francis Ford Coppola and his wife Eleanor, Sofia began her career as an actor, mostly in her father’s films, before moving behind the camera to release her debut feature in 1999, The Virgin Suicides, which quickly found a small but devoted audience and is now regarded as one of the definitive examples of a cult classic, and she followed this up with hits like Marie Antoinette, The Beguiled, and my personal favourite, Lost in Translation.
Cinema is full of nepo babies, and the Coppola family is responsible for about half of them, as the Italian-American dynasty has spread its roots far and wide to varying degrees of success, but Sofia has more than stepped out of her father’s shadow, firmly establishing her own voice and unique style of storytelling, often focusing on characters who find themselves at a crossroads in life. It’s no wonder that Elordi and so many others have fought tooth and nail to be in her films.
Priscilla received strong reviews upon its release, with Elordi coming in for praise for his grounded, almost villainous portrayal of Elvis. Coppola hasn’t made a narrative feature since, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she reignited this creative relationship at least once more.
