logo
Brisbane to Bond? Hollywood star Jacob Elordi on his new TV drama

Brisbane to Bond? Hollywood star Jacob Elordi on his new TV drama

Times7 days ago
Since breaking through in 2023 with a transatlantic double whammy — a gilded English toff in Saltburn and a predatory Elvis Presley in Priscilla — Jacob Elordi has roared towards the top of the film star leaderboard with cheekbones set to stun. The 28-year-old Australian made his name as the bad-boy love interest in three Kissing Booth rom-coms and played an even badder boy in the teen series Euphoria. He blends light and dark with the deftness of a young Cary Grant. And he's 6ft 5in.
'You learn quickly that what people take away from those movies is your stature and your figure,' he said in 2021 of the Kissing Booth series. Them's the breaks, Jacob. He grew up in Brisbane, the son of a house painter, who gave him his Basque surname, and a stay-at-home mum and used that stature to useful effect as a rugby player before a back injury forced him to look elsewhere. The Wallabies' loss is Hollywood's gain.
Elordi, who lives in Los Angeles and is in a relationship with Olivia Jade Giannulli, an American YouTuber, is about to take another step up, playing the monster in Guillermo del Toro's forthcoming Frankenstein and Heathcliffe in an adaptation of Wuthering Heights by his Saltburn director Emerald Fennell. After we speak, Denis Villeneuve, the Canadian who made the Dune films, is confirmed as the director of the next Bond film and Elordi is regularly mentioned as a possible 007.
Before that comes a different test, playing an emaciated prisoner of war in The Narrow Road to the Deep North, a sumptuous and intelligent new Australian miniseries, an adaptation of Richard Flanagan's Booker-winning novel. Directed by Justin Kurzel and written by Shaun Grant, the duo behind films including True History of the Kelly Gang, the five-parter stars Elordi as Dorrigo Evans, a Tasmanian army surgeon in the Second World War. Arrogant, distant, sexually magnetic and fond of quoting the Roman poet Catullus, Dorrigo is not a bland protagonist.
'He's deeply layered and human and flawed,' Elordi says, speaking in Melbourne alongside Kurzel. 'As an actor they're the things you want to sink your teeth into.' Elordi's performance had 'a beautiful dignity and poise,' Kurzel says, praising his ability to 'stay very present within scenes'.
They caught him just before he went supernova. 'I don't mind being quoted as saying it was my idea,' says Grant, speaking a few weeks later. He first saw Elordi alongside Zendaya in Euphoria. 'I said to Justin, 'I reckon this boy is going to blow up.' I knew that one: he was good and two: he looked amazing on screen. I'm so glad that he's having this meteoric rise because he deserves it.'
Can Grant see him as Bond? 'Was it Saltburn, where he rocks around in a tux? He looks all right in them. Jacob's very talented — he could do it in a heartbeat and the accent's not an issue.' What could be an issue, for Grant at least, is his nationality. 'I know we had George Lazenby but I am of the belief that Bond should be British. In the same way that when Tom Hardy was Mad Max, I felt he should have been Australian.'
Many don't have a clue where Elordi is from, though. He is known for two things: height and handsomeness; what he is not known for is being Australian. 'One of the producers said, 'Can he do an Aussie accent?' And I was like, 'I sure hope so — he grew up in Queensland,'' Grant says.
So what was it like to talk in his normal voice? 'Mate, it was so nice but it was also really frightening because I thought I sounded like a fool,' Elordi says. 'Without this veneer of an accent to hide behind you are very much yourself. But once I got through that I didn't realise it could be so simple, that you could just think something and say it without having to put a sound on it. It was quite freeing.'
The Narrow Road to the Deep North moves around in time with dreamlike fluidity, from Dorrigo's intense affair with his uncle's young wife, Amy (Odessa Young), to his regiment being captured by the Japanese and forced to work building the Burma Railway. Also known as the Death Railway, it will be familiar as the setting for Bridge on the River Kwai. About a third of the workers on the project died, including about 90,000 slave labourers from southeast Asia and 12,000 Allied prisoners of war. The wartime scenes are cut with ones set in the Eighties, with Dorrigo now a distinguished but still philandering civilian surgeon, played by a growling Ciarán Hinds.
The shoot broke off halfway through to allow Elordi and his co-stars to lose weight for the PoW scenes, which are set in Thailand and Burma but were shot in a rainforest outside Sydney. Shedding pounds must have been tricky for the already svelte Elordi. 'I was pretty conscious of it in the year leading up to it,' he says. 'We had a six-week period where all the boys got together and we had a great trainer and nutrition team and we all cut it down as close as we could go.' How much was he eating? 'Bits and bobs. Not much.'
Experts taught them about tactics and weapons and Elordi spoke to 'a wonderful army surgeon' who helped him to understand 'the effect the job has on you and the technical aspects of performing surgeries in these high-stress situations.'
The PoWs include an amateur artist called Rabbit and a well-endowed chap nicknamed Tiny — their relentless mickey-taking and am-dram production of Romeo and Juliet ('Kiss me, you fool!') contrast with the barbarity of the Japanese captors. One man is drowned in excrement, another decapitated with a samurai sword.
Shooting the PoW scenes after the rest of the series was 'like filming two movies back to back', Grant says. 'You're highly stressed. The boys are hungry and tired and wet and in the middle of nowhere and Justin is pushing them to the edge. He does it on all of his projects — it's that striving for truth, to get an actor out of their own mind and their own skin. If that means countless takes, we'll do countless takes, although he's no David Fincher [the demanding director whom Grant worked with on the Mindhunter series]. Even if we're in pouring rain in the middle of nowhere, comfort is not a concern.' The effort was worth it — those scenes hit hard. 'People say, 'It's so hard to watch,'' Grant says. 'I'm like, 'It would have been a hell of a lot harder to live.''
• 10 best Australian shows to watch right now — ranked by our critic
He and Kurzel saw the series as a study of three kinds of love: the fraternal love between the men, the dutiful love Dorrigo has for Ella, his wife of many years, and the romantic love he shares with Amy. 'Her body was a poem beyond memorising,' Flanagan writes in the novel of Amy, played by Young, the excellent Australian actress from Mothering Sunday.
'It was a unique love story: this summer of love that happens for six weeks and how that relationship grows even stronger while he's in the camp,' Kurzel says. 'Amy has this sort of ghost relationship with him. I found that deeply moving — the memory of this woman allows him to imagine surviving.' There are some memorable sex scenes between Elordi and Young. 'It was so playful and unguarded,' Kurzel says. 'There was an energy between them that the camera instantly got swept up in. You have to be a bit fearless in love stories, allow yourself to feel foolish at times.'
'It's not so difficult when you're working with someone like Odessa,' Elordi says. 'We want the same thing, which is to get lost in the story. You just enter a state of play.'
• The 10 best Second World War TV dramas to watch next
Flanagan's novel is precious to Kurzel, who is good friends with the author — they both grew up in Tasmania and still live there. 'I remember being in London in 2014 when Richard won the Booker prize and we had a fantastic night together celebrating,' Kurzel says. It was Flanagan who suggested that he adapt the book into a miniseries.
Kurzel and Grant have common ground too. 'We both come from working-class backgrounds and have tough fathers,' Grant says. They have made three films together: Nitram, a psychological drama; Snowtown, based on a series of real-life murders in Adelaide; and True History of the Kelly Gang, about the outlaw Ned Kelly. 'We called them 'the wrath trilogy' because they were essentially about men or boys burning the world down,' Grant says. This project is equally cinematic but less angry, at least in parts. Again it's about masculinity, which as Grant says, 'isn't getting a lot of great press, but there's a bond between men in certain times — no more than war — when you see the best in one another'.
Even though he and Flanagan are mates, Kurzel has said that he was 'incredibly intimidated' by the idea of adapting a Booker winner. He and Grant had done it before, though: True History of the Kelly Gang was based on Peter Carey's novel, another Booker winner. Grant has adapted books by less successful writers and thinks that 'it's the ones that don't have the runs on the board that are precious rather than the Peter Careys and Richard Flanagans of the world'.
It's an important story to tell on screen. 'The contribution of the Australian soldiers, especially in World War Two, is incredibly undervalued,' Kurzel says. He cites Peter Weir's Gallipoli, about the First World War campaign, as a formative influence, but there aren't many internationally successful films beyond that. Which is sad, Kurzel says, because 'we really revere our returned soldiers'. He, Flanagan and Grant all have family connections to the war. Flanagan based his book partly on the experiences of his father, who helped to build the Burma Railway, which was intended to transfer supplies from Thailand before an invasion of India.
• Read more TV reviews, guides about what to watch and interviews
Grant's grandfather was also on 'the Line', as they referred to those who worked on the railway. 'Richard's father spoke to him about what went on, which allowed Richard to write what he wrote,' Grant says. 'My grandfather was very insular. The closest thing we got was when he walked in on me watching Bridge on the River Kwai and said, 'We didn't whistle.' He was held for two years and it changed him for ever — he was in and out of hospitals and mental institutions. He was not an easy man to love, but my grandmother stood by him.'
Kurzel's grandfather was a 'Rat of Tobruk', one of the Australian soldiers who held the Libyan port through a German siege in 1941. He too 'was very quiet and distant about those experiences and it impacted his relationships with his children and his wife', Kurzel says.
We need to consider the trauma suffered by these men before we condemn their later behaviour, Grant says. Flanagan's book 'speaks so well to what makes an individual. We can't just judge them [purely] on their actions. What led to that?' The Narrow Road to the Deep North was shown in Australia in April and the response from critics and viewers has taken him aback. 'It's been phenomenal — we've had children and grandchildren of veterans speak about their gratitude.'
Kurzel admits that his 19-year-old twin daughters 'aren't so connected' to their family history, 'but it's important to me that they remember'. The presence of Elordi may help on that front.
The Narrow Road to the Deep North starts on BBC1, Jul 20, with all episodes on iPlayer
Love TV? Discover the best shows on Netflix, the best Prime Video TV shows, the best Disney+ shows , the best Apple TV+ shows, the best shows on BBC iPlayer , the best shows on Sky and Now, the best shows on ITVX, the best shows on Channel 4 streaming, the best shows on Paramount+ and our favourite hidden gem TV shows. Don't forget to check our comprehensive TV guide for the latest listings
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Author of tell-all Gwyneth Paltrow biography reveals actress' stark response to her interview request
Author of tell-all Gwyneth Paltrow biography reveals actress' stark response to her interview request

Daily Mail​

time23 minutes ago

  • Daily Mail​

Author of tell-all Gwyneth Paltrow biography reveals actress' stark response to her interview request

The author of Gwyneth Paltrow 's new biography has revealed whether or not the Goop goddess herself has cracked open the book - and how she responded when the writer asked to interview her for it. Writer Amy Odell, who wrote Anna Wintour 's biography in 2022, is releasing a tell-all about the famous actress that will hit stands on July 29, and it seems like it's going to be juicy. It takes a look at her entire life thus far, as the daughter of actress Blythe Danner and Bruce Paltrow. Snippets from the new biography have already been leaked, and it includes tales from former Goop staffers, details of her late '90s relationship with Brad Pitt, and the end of her friendship with pop legend Madonna. However, it doesn't seem like Paltrow had much to do with the book, nor really wanted to. In a new interview with Vanity Fair, Odell revealed whether or not she had heard from Paltrow or her 'people' about the upcoming tell-all. 'I was in touch with her team over the course of the three-year process, pretty much most of that time,' Odell shared. She explained that she asked Paltrow's team over the course of those three year if the actress wanted to speak with her. 'Right around the time I finished, I got a no,' Odell said. The author also admitted that she had 'no idea' if Paltrow had read the book. 'You would have to ask her,' the author told Vanity Fair. During the interview, Odell also shared what she believes Paltrow's legacy is - at least, so far. 'I think that she will probably be less remembered for her acting roles, no matter how iconic, than her impact with Goop, which I would argue showed the world how much money people will spend and how much effort they will undergo to be well, no matter what science and experts tell us,' she said. The new biography has already revealed a lot, including the reason why her relationship with Ben Affleck ended in 2000. An excerpt obtained by People reads: 'Their physical chemistry couldn't overcome his self-destructive impulses, which may have even included cheating on her.' According to Odell, after the couple broke up, Paltrow, who was allegedly drawn to Affleck's intellect, said, 'I love men, even though they're lying, cheating scumbags.' And it was noted by the biographer, 'Her friends had reservations about him, because he didn't always reciprocate her affection. 'He at times seemed more interested in playing video games with the guys at his house than being with Gwyneth.' Elsewhere in the coverage of Paltrow and Affleck's romance, Odell penned: 'She spoke openly about how much she enjoyed their sex life. She told [makeup artist and her friend Kevy] Aucoin one day that she loved when Affleck [engaged in a certain sex act].' The exes starred alongside each other in two films during their coupling - 1998's Shakespeare in Love, which earned Paltrow an Oscar, and 2000's rom-com Bounce.

Ms. Rachel rails against Hollywood celebrities over Gaza silence following 'feud' with Olivia Munn
Ms. Rachel rails against Hollywood celebrities over Gaza silence following 'feud' with Olivia Munn

Daily Mail​

time25 minutes ago

  • Daily Mail​

Ms. Rachel rails against Hollywood celebrities over Gaza silence following 'feud' with Olivia Munn

YouTube star and children's entertainer Ms. Rachel has come out swinging against Hollywood by calling out celebrities over their silence on Gaza. The former preschool teacher, whose real name is Rachel Griffin-Accurso, 42, has been an fierce critic against Israel's assault on Gaza and has emerged as one of the internet's most outspoken advocates for the thousands of Palestinian children that have been maimed and killed from the war. In her latest statement, the Maine-born performer railed against Hollywood in a post shared to Threads. She scathed, 'Celebrities - You won't get canceled for saying people in Gaza should not be starved to death.' She continued, 'We will remember your silence. And that you chose it over people's lives.' The statement came just one day after Rachel vowed not to work with anybody that has stayed silent on the Gaza situation. 'To anyone asking to with work with me who hasn't spoken out about Gaza: Thank you for the request. I'm not comfortable working with anyone who hasn't spoken out about Gaza. Much love and God bless,' she wrote. Not only does Ms. Rachel boast almost 16 million subscribers on YouTube, her self-titled show is also one of the most-watched shows on Netflix. Her latest comments on Gaza come after she found herself in a public clash with actress Olivia Munn. It began after Munn - who is mom to two kids - explained in an interview her personal preferences when it comes to the kind of children's content she allows in her household. 'I know kids love [Ms. Rachel], but the thing is, if I can't watch it, I'm not going to spend the rest of my life going crazy,' she said. Munn, 44, also shared that she avoids cartoons, noting that when her son Malcolm asked for Blue's Clues, she responded, 'Hell no. Not in my house.' She added that while her partner, John Mulaney, introduced their son to Spider-Man cartoons, she prefers live-action films like Spider-Man: Homecoming. 'If you want to watch the real-life ones, then we can watch that,' she said. 'It might be a little too old for him, but I can't take the cartoons.' While Munn's comments appeared to be more about her personal viewing preferences than criticism of any specific creator, it did not stop online speculation that it was a slight on Ms. Rachel. And afterwards, Ms. Rachel furiously hit back to express her disappointment at the coverage of her allegedly brewing 'feud' with the actress. In her latest statement, the Maine-born performer blasted Hollywood, writing, 'Celebrities - You won't get cancelled for saying people in Gaza should not be starved to death' The statement came just one day after Rachel vowed not to work with anybody that has stayed silent on the Gaza situation In response, Rachel commented directly on the social media posts of certain outlets, writing, 'I'd rather you cover my advocacy for kids in Gaza.' She later followed up with a post on her own Instagram account, sharing screenshots of those comments alongside a caption that read: 'WHO CARES?! 'I'd rather you cover me advocating for kids in Gaza who are literally starving, largest cohort of child amputees in modern history, thousands and thousands killed – no medical care, no education, no homes… do better!!!' she added. She emphasized that her frustration was directed at the coverage - not at Munn. 'Not against her at all and don't care that she doesn't want to watch the show - all my love to her and her family - disappointed in the outlets,' Ms. Rachel wrote. Since the start of the humanitarian crisis, Ms. Rachel has continuously used her platform to raise awareness about the conditions faced by children in Gaza, including lack of access to food, education, and medical care. Rachel has even made videos with Palestinian children who were able to escape Gaza - including three-year-old Rahaf who was left a double amputee after Israel's siege of the region. The children's entertainer has repeatedly said that her advocacy is non-negotiable - even if it comes at the expense of her career. 'I am fully willing to risk my career for this,' she stated in a video shared earlier this year. 'It is more important to me to speak out than to remain silent.'

Bond girl, 76, who upset Roger Moore's wife after a first-of-its-kind love scene, looks unrecognizable in LA
Bond girl, 76, who upset Roger Moore's wife after a first-of-its-kind love scene, looks unrecognizable in LA

Daily Mail​

timean hour ago

  • Daily Mail​

Bond girl, 76, who upset Roger Moore's wife after a first-of-its-kind love scene, looks unrecognizable in LA

The actress who made Bond history as 007's first Black love interest looked effortlessly glamorous during a rare outing in Los Angeles on Thursday—nearly 50 years after her breakout role in Live and Let Die. The former model, now 76, was spotted running errands in a chic, casual ensemble, proving she's still got the same star power that turned heads in 1973 when she starred opposite Roger Moore in his first turn as James Bond. Her steamy, groundbreaking scenes with Moore made headlines and, as he later revealed in his memoir, caused real-life tension with his then-wife, Luisa Mattioli. The Bond flick itself came with major star power: Live and Let Die featured a title track written and performed by Paul McCartney and Wings, becoming a classic in its own right. Before landing the iconic role, the American beauty had worked as a Playboy Bunny at the New York Playboy Club and made her acting debut in For Love of Ivy—a 1968 film directed by Sidney Poitier. So who is the trailblazing star who helped redefine the Bond girl legacy? The actress who made Bond history as 007's first Black love interest looked effortlessly glamorous during a rare outing in Los Angeles on Thursday—nearly 50 years after her breakout role in Live and Let Die If you guessed Gloria Hendry, you nailed it. Florida-born Hendry took on the role of Rosie Carver, the ill-fated CIA agent who meets a tragic end in Bond's arms. Her sultry scenes with Moore launched her into the spotlight, as Live and Let Die became a cultural milestone. But while the chemistry sizzled on screen, it reportedly stirred tension behind the scenes. In his memoir, Moore admitted that their love scene didn't sit well with his wife at the time, Mattioli. 'As Bond, I make love to Rosie Carver, played by the beautiful Black actress Gloria Hendry,' Moore wrote. 'And my wife Luisa has learned from certain Louisiana ladies that if there is a scene like that they won't go to see the picture. 'I personally don't give a damn, and it makes me all the more determined to play the scene.' Due to the film's depiction of an interracial romance, Moore and Hendry's scene was controversially cut from screenings in apartheid-era South Africa, where such relationships were banned by law. Trina Parks broke ground as the first Black actress cast in a Bond film, appearing as the fierce and formidable Thumper opposite Sean Connery in Diamonds Are Forever (1971). While she didn't share romantic scenes with 007, Parks made her mark as one of his most memorable female foes. Two years later, Hendry made history as the first Black Bond girl to share an on-screen romance with the iconic spy. More than a decade after Hendry, Grace Jones stormed onto the screen in 1985's A View to a Kill, playing the unforgettable May Day—a deadly henchwoman with undeniable presence, again opposite Moore. In 2002, Halle Berry turned heads as Jinx in Die Another Day, becoming the first Black Bond girl in 17 years and making an instant impact opposite Pierce Brosnan. Then came Naomie Harris, who brought a new energy to the franchise as Eve Moneypenny in Skyfall (2012) and Spectre (2015), helping redefine the role of Bond's female counterparts for a modern era.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store