Frankenstien
Frankenstien VS The Film Industry
“..Every day since making that movie, in this industry I’ve felt a kind of great calm that I am in the right place. I am meant to be here. And that’s been a really profound feeling and great comfort in an industry where you usually feel quite alien.”
Frankenstein (2025) directed by Guillermo del Torro stars Jacob Elordi, Mia Goth, and Oscar Issac. On October 16th 2025, Jacob Elordi joined Newport Film Festival to talk about his experience in the film industry while promoting his latest project, Frankenstein.
The film industry is rough, unforgiving, man eats man's world. Feeling like an alien or creature, if you will. You have a casting director build you up and make you feel fit for a role, just to be denied, left astray, and have the possibility of a call back. Just how Victor left The Creature in the blazing basement after proving himself worthy of learning. The spitfire of hateful comments starts to expand. But, now you have finally found one stream of water. One role that flips your whole acting experience around, solidifying your legacy in the film industry. Thats when you find one director that sees your potential and carefully crafts you to be the actor you're about to become.
If you view the film industry as Victor Frankenstein, then Jacob Elordi becomes The Creature. Not in monstrosity, but in origin. He is being shaped from the materials the industry provides, roles, expectations, scrutiny, and admiration. Like the Creature, he steps into the world already seen, already judged, his appearance and presence dissected before he can fully speak for himself. And yet, as the quote suggests, Elordi has found serenity within this creation of Frankenstein 2025. Instead of being devoured by the gaze of audiences and producers, he discovers a strange peace, an understanding that he is “meant to be here,” even if the environment sometimes feels alien. The Creature finding not rage but recognition.
Then there is Guillermo del Toro, inhabiting the role of Elizabeth. He is the embodiment of compassion, humanity, and emotional intelligence within a chaotic ecosystem of creation. Del Toro’s presence in the industry often functions exactly this way: a tender, empathetic counterweight to its sharp edges. He nurtures rather than exploits, he approaches stories with reverence instead of ravenous ambition. As Elizabeth, he becomes the emotional anchor, the reminder that art is not just an assembly of parts but a pulse, a soul. “Jacob’s eyes are so full of humanity, I cast him because of his eyes.” (Guillermo del Torro, 2025). Guillermo del Torro views Jacob Elordi with humanity that actors in the film industry need reassurance in. Where Victor represents the industry’s restless drive to innovate and dominate, Elizabeth represents its heart, the place where artists retreat for comfort and affirmation.
Together, these metaphors can map the strange ecosystem of filmmaking: the industry as a brilliant but overwhelming creator; Jacob Elordi as the living result, learning to navigate the world formed around him. Guillermo del Toro as the soul that keeps the whole machine from collapsing into cold machinery. Through this lens, the quote becomes more than personal reflection, it becomes a testament to finding humanity within creation, belonging within spectacle, and calm within a world that often feels stitched together from chaos.