Jacob Elordi hits out at backlash to Saltburn over explicit scenes

Jacob Elordi has spoken out about the backlash that Saltburn got due to its extremely explicit scenes.

The Emerald Fennell film starring Elordi alongside Barry Keoghan drew headlines and viral social media focus after fans found out about its extremely graphic scenes.

The film followed Keoghan as Oliver, a young working class man who infiltrates a rich family through his university friend Felix, played by Elordi.

Elordi discussed the film as part of his promotion for Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein, coming to Netflix tomorrow, where he plays the iconic monster.

The film sits at 85% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.7 on IMDb, with many seeing it as a frontrunner for next year’s Oscars.

Despite this though, the role many would still most likely know Elordi from is Saltburn.

Saltburn went viral for a number of reasons, but most notably its graphic and shocking scenes.

This mainly involved Keoghan’s Oliver’s bizarre erotic fantasies aimed at Elordi’s Felix, most notably when Oliver slurped his ejaculate from a bath plug hole, and later has sex with Felix’s grave.

Elordi, however, doesn’t understand the shocked reaction that many on social media had to the film.

Appearing on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, Elordi said when asked about the reaction to the film: “I didn’t think it was so extreme, I found the world’s reaction to be slightly prudish.

“You know cinema, there are so many films out there that are like, infinitely more disturbing.”

When Horowitz pointed out that the film was far more mainstream than many comparable examples, he said: “The film lived two different lives though.

Jacob Elordi in Saltburn (Warner Brothers)

“The film lived in cinemas and there was a different response, and then once it hit a streaming service it got a whole … it got a different lens on the film.”

He described how he found it interesting that the film was viewed very differently on streaming, saying he felt it was viewed less as a ‘Friday night cinematic experience’.

Elordi is set to return for another film working with Fennell, starring in Wuthering Heights alongside Margot Robbie.

Whilst the film has been criticised for his casting, with many understanding the novel to make clear that his character Heathcliff to not be white, Elordi spoke of his excitement for the film.

When asked if her take was going to make viewers’ ‘head spin’ he said: “I think it’s going to obliterate your heart. It’s such a painful love story, such a tragedy.

“I just got to see the whole film recently and it’s so painfully beautiful.”

Despite this though, Frankenstein is still the actor’s primary focus at the moment, calling it his ‘Dark Knight moment’, marking a major shift in his career.

Reviews have been particularly kind to Elordi’s performance, with popular critic Peter Travers saying in his 3 / 4 star review: “As the Creature, Jacob Elordi conveys innocence, strength, sexuality and crushing sorrow.”

Frankenstein releases on Netflix tomorrow, November 7.