It’s Oscar season, and, as is tradition, we’ve been drip-fed some pretty fun tidbits about the leading films up for awards that strike a more personable, fun tone rather than the usual press tour patter. Such is the case with Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, which received 15 nods, including Best Picture. All of which could’ve never happened had star Jacob Elordi not broken a promise he made to his mother to never work with the acclaimed director.
While speaking at a BFI IMAX screening of Frankenstein with del Toro in London, Elordi revealed the story behind his broken promise to his mother. The promise wasn’t recent, but one he made when he was 10 years old. Back then, Elordi recounted how he would “raid the horror aisle” at Blockbuster when they were still a thing (RIP, big dog). It was there that he first got an eyeful of the enchanting DVD cover of del Toro’s 2006 film, Pan’s Labyrinth.
© Warner Bros.“And I saw the tree and the little girl, and I turned around, the DVD case, and I saw the Pale Man,” Elordi recalled. “And I remember thinking, ‘What is that?'”
While the film has the distinction of ranking as our favorite del Toro film, it’s also received an MA rating in Australia and an R rating in the United States, placing it exceedingly low on Mama Elordi’s list of films to let her child watch. She ultimately acquiesced to Elordi’s curiosity by renting the film, like parents are wont to do, but it came with a catch: “You must never work with this man.”
“And lo and behold,” Elordi said, with a laugh, according to Variety.
“It’s good to disobey one’s mother,” del Toro added.
© Warner Bros.As Variety notes, Elordi’s casting as Frankenstein‘s Creature came by happenstance when the original actor that del Toro had pegged to play him pulled out nine weeks before shooting the film. Despite having just four weeks to prepare for the whole thing, Elordi said he had no fear because he was so excited and sure of the movie after reading its screenplay for the first time.
“There’s no other filmmaker on this planet that could make a truly great Frankenstein film,” Elordi said.
And as far as Elordi and his mother are concerned, he said he plans on making up for that broken promise by bringing her to the Oscars. Hopefully, del Toro and company will take home a couple of trophies to further smooth things over after everything is said and done.
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