Everyone knows Jacob Elordi as one of the bad boys of Euphoria, but the actor really wanted to make another of his characters much more edgy.
Before his role in the huge HBO drama, Elordi first rose to fame in The Kissing Booth, a 2018 Netflix film that was so popular it led to two sequels. The Kissing Booth was based on the 2012 novel of the same name, and featured Elordi’s character, Noah, smoking a lot.
When it came time to shoot the film though, Netflix refused to let the Aussie actor smoke on screen. “I remember saying, ‘He smokes in the book. I need to smoke. He needs to have cigarettes. He’s a bad boy,” Elordi told GQ.
Repeated requests to smoke on screen were turned down by the streaming giant, with Netflix probably worried about ruining the PG-friendliness of the teen comedy. That really didn’t sit well with Elordi.
“I was like, ‘This is bullshit!’ I remember going to war for it,” he added. “I was like, ‘Are we lying to the fucking millions of 14-year-olds out there? This guy smokes nicotine. It says here on page four – look!’ I imagine people were just like, ‘Jesus fucking Christ. Is this guy serious?’”
Despite not getting to enjoy a cigarette or three, it all turned out well in the end: the second of The Kissing Booth films is still the eight biggest Netflix original film of all time, with 203.9 million hours viewed in just its first 28 days.
Elordi, who GQ declared as being “Gen Z’s leading man” in the new interview, will next be seen in Saltburn. The upcoming thriller film is being directed by Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman) and also stars Rosamund Pike and Barry Keoghan.
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Check out the trailer for The Kissing Booth:
