Jacob Elordi Criticizes Himself For Taking Part In Netflix’s ‘The Kissing Booth’ Franchise

Actor Jacob Elordi broke down a number of his notable roles in a recent interview with GQ. Among them was his role as Noah Flynn in “The Kissing Booth” franchise on Netflix. The young-adult geared films center on a high schooler in Los Angeles (Joey King) falling for her life long best friend’s (Joel Courtney) troubled older brother (Elordi), and the toxic, on-again-off-again relationship between them.

Elordi revealed that he does not enjoy the movies, despite their role in his early career. “I didn’t want to make those movies before I made those movies. Those movies are ridiculous. They’re not universal. They’re an escape,” said the actor. He went on to discuss his hope to pursue roles in inter-generational productions that will feel more timeless for audiences. The actor most recently portrayed Elvis Presley in Sofia Coppola‘s “Priscilla,” and Felix Catton in the English-set thriller “Saltburn” from director Emerald Fennell.

While the films were at first a commercial success, predominantly among young women viewers, they were a critical flop, with many reflecting on the writing’s inability to reckon with the realities of toxic masculinity and the patriarchy’s impact on teenaged girls. The trilogy of films is based on the novels of the same name by author Beth Reekles.

Social Media Reactions

Elordi’s comments initially came after accusations that he had become “pretentious” for leaving Netflix in favor of working with high profile indie darlings Sam Levinson on “Euphoria” and later Coppola, Fennell, and Sean Price Williams. Now, critics of the actor feel that he should be more grateful for the Netflix trilogy that pushed him into the mainstream.

thats the movie that made him famous.. no one knew him before that 😭

— sam ❦ (@endedbysam) November 14, 2023

Others feel that it was sexist and insensitive to critique a piece of media clearly intended for young women so harshly. Historically, a number of critically acclaimed musicians and actors began their careers at the behest of fan girls and did not achieve legend status until decades later, including the Beatles, James Dean, and more. Coppola likened him to these old Hollywood stars in the GQ article, saying that he was a “classic movie star, like a Monty Clift or Paul Newman.”

Elordi went on to defend his words, explaining that he cares to leave more of an impact on viewers. “How is caring about your output pretentious? But not caring, and knowingly feeding people shit, knowing that you’re making money off of people’s time, which is literally the most valuable thing that they have. How is that the cool thing?”

Why do artists and actors hate their biggest roles and their biggest songs..Is it just to feel different? Like I don’t get it

— SNS 🇺🇸 (@Snshores) November 14, 2023

The actor is certainly not above popular media, and referenced learning about Elvis from “Lilo And Stitch” as a child, and looking up to Vin Diesel, Heath Ledger, and Christian Bale throughout his Australian childhood. Others defend his statements, as other actors a part of popular teen franchises have also later criticized their own roles. Notably, Robert Pattinson has charted a similar path, beginning with his role as Edward Cullen in “Twilight” and leading into a number of critically acclaimed indie films.