Posted in: Movies, Netflix | Tagged: frankenstein, guillermo del toro, Jacob Elordi

Frankenstein: Jacob Elordi Says The Make-Up Is "Shockingly Beautiful"

Frankenstein star Jacob Elordi praised the make-up used to bring the Creature to life, saying, “You can really see the human being in it, but it’s also so shockingly beautiful.”

For as long as special effects make-up has existed, there have been horror stories from actors and actresses who did not have a good time sitting in one of those chairs. It's a grueling process, and it's absolutely fine that it's not for everyone, but there is no denying how much better everything looks when it is done practically. Director Guillermo del Toro has always preferred practical effects and make-up, and his adaptation of Frankenstein is no different. He also got lucky because Jacob Elordi is one of the actors who doesn't mind sitting in the chair for the make-up process, saying to Empire that, "I couldn't have asked for better make-up." That's a very general statement encompassing everything from the people who put the make-up on to the design process.

"You can really see the human being in it, but it's also so shockingly beautiful," Elordi replied. "On our first phone call, Guillermo said, 'It's not a make-up process, it's not hours in the chair. It's your time to pass over into the creature. And I took that really seriously."

Frankenstein is one of del Toro's long-running passion projects, finally making its way to the big screen. The thing about passion projects is that they follow you through all of the stages of your life. What first drew you to this material could be seen in a completely different way when you look at it again years or decades later. For del Toro, he not only saw his own journey in this story, but also how he's a little bit of both Victor and the Creature.

"My own journey, as a human being, is of a prodigal father," del Toro explained. "Film is a very jealous profession with personal life. It takes you away, and it takes a toll. That toll weighed heavily on me as a human being, and I wanted to make the movie about that. … It's about seeing yourself as both a father and a son. I am a little bit of Victor. I'm a little bit of the Creature."

Frankenstein made its debut at the Venice Film Festival at the end of August, and the reviews are generally pretty positive. However, the reactions do seem to be one extreme or the other, festival brain once again making its presence known, so it's going to be really interesting to see the reactions of critics who see the film and have more than a few hours to write a review.

Frankenstein: Summary, Cast List, Release Date

Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro adapts Mary Shelley's classic tale of Victor Frankenstein, a brilliant but egotistical scientist who brings a creature to life in a monstrous experiment that ultimately leads to the undoing of both the creator and his tragic creation.

Frankenstein, written and directed by Guillermo del Toro, stars Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, Mia Goth, Felix Kammerer, David Bradley, Lars Mikkelsen, Christian Convery, with Charles Dance, and Christoph Waltz. It will be released in select theaters on October 17, 2025, and stream on Netflix on November 7, 2025.

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