Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar is not sure whether Jacob Elordi's rise in Hollywood is due to his status as a respected actor or as a sex symbol.
Elordi, 28, rose to prominence with the show Euphoria and went on to star in movies such as Frankenstein, Saltburn, Priscilla and Wuthering Heights. During an appearance on the La Pija y la Quinqui podcast, the Spanish filmmaker was asked about collaborating with Elordi for a future project.
Almodóvar - known for internationally acclaimed titles such as Women on the Verge of Nervous Breakdown, Volver, All About My Mother, The Skin I Live In, Pain and Glory and most recently The Room Next Door - admitted that Elordi's stardom was "real". But he also questioned some of the actor's recent choices.
"I can now see that Jacob Elordi's stardom is indeed real," Almodóvar said, according to the HuffPost. "I was still wondering whether he was a sex symbol or a respected actor."
The director spoke about Emerald Fennell's adaptation of Emily Brontë's classic Wuthering Heights, where Elordi played Heathcliff. The filmmaker, 76, called the adaptation "very bad", noting that it was not the actors' fault for his dislike of the movie. "They do what they can."
He then discussed another classic adaptation featuring Elordi - Guillermo del Toro's take on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, where Elordi played the titular monster. Almodovar said it was a "comfortable" part for an actor to take on. "We still need to see him, at least I do, in another role that demands more from him," Almodovar added.