Guillermo del Toro has praised Jacob Elordi for replacing Andrew Garfield in the Netflix adaptation of Frankenstein.
The film, based on Mary Shelley’s gothic novel released in 1818, was set to star Garfield as eccentric scientist Doctor Viktor’s monster, but he dropped out nine weeks before production due to scheduling conflicts caused by the Hollywood writers’ strike.
Del Toro’s long-term collaborator, The Shape of Water makeup artist Mike Hill, had spent nine months perfecting the look for Garfield’s version of the character before Saltburn actor Elordi stepped in.
But, according to Del Toro and Hill, the development worked out for the best.
“Andrew Garfield stepping out and Jacob coming in – I mean, it was like Jacob is the most perfect actor for the creature,” the filmmaker told Vanity Fair.
“We have a supernaturally good connection. It’s like, very few words. Very few things I have to say, and he does it.”
He added: “We recast and we had nine weeks – you can’t be under more pressure than that.”
Hill praised Elordi’s physique, commenting that he ultimately was the ideal actor for the role. New images released this week show Elordi’s face partially hidden, with the creators opting to keep his final look tightly under wraps until the film’s release in November.
“What attracted me to him was his gangliness and his wrists. It was this looseness,” he said.
“Then he has these real somber moments where he watches you really deftly, and his eyelids are low, with the long lashes like Karloff. I was like, ‘I don’t know who else you could get with a physicality like this.’ His demeanor is innocent, but it’s encompassed in a six-foot-five frame. He could really do a lot of damage if this man really wanted to be a bad guy.”
Garfield previously told Deadline that he was “disappointed” to have to quit the film, which also stars Oscar Isaac, Mia Goth and Christoph Waltz.
“I’m of course disappointed that I didn’t get to do it,” he said.
“But because I love Guillermo and I love Oscar and everyone he assembled, meeting Jacob felt really serendipitous so that I could really see and hear that, ‘No, maybe he needed that experience more than me.’ That was cool, to feel that he had a really spectacular time on that job.”
Del Toro’s credits include Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), for which he received his first Academy Award nomination, and The Shape of Water (2018) for which he received his first Oscar for Best Director.
The forthcoming film is set to be released on Netflix in November 2025.
