Jacob Elordi doesn’t have the best memories from his days as Noah Flynn in The Kissing Booth movies.
“I didn’t want to make those movies before I made those movies,” Elordi, 26, admitted in his GQ cover profile, published on Monday, November 13. “Those movies are ridiculous. They’re not universal. They’re an escape.”
Elordi told the outlet that the Netflix trilogy was a “one for them, one for me” film — an old Hollywood phrase meaning that actors would do one big budget movie for money before doing one smaller project that they loved.
“That one’s a trap as well. Because it can become 15 for them, none for you,” Elordi said of the old saying. “You have no original ideas and you’re dead inside. So, it’s a fine dance. My ‘one for them,’ I’ve done it.”
Elordi said that’s “probably why I’m so happy” because he’s not worried about “judgment and comments on the internet.” He explained: “I’m in the movie now.”
The Australian actor was cemented in the heartthrob category when the first Kissing Booth movie was released in 2018. He starred in the film alongside ex-girlfriend Joey King (Elle Evans) and Joel Courtney (Lee Flynn). Elordi, along with his costars, reprised their roles for the second and third movies, which premiered in 2020 and 2021, respectively.
Over the years, Elordi has made headlines for his frequent comments about the film franchise.
“I haven’t seen it. You’ve seen more than I have,” he told Variety in August 2020 about the films. “I don’t know if I’m allowed to say that, but I haven’t.”
At the time, King, 24, hit back in a since-deleted Twitter post.
“Jacob watched it,” the actress wrote at the time, later clarifying during an August 2020 episode of The Howard Stern Show that she got Elordi’s “permission to tweet it, so that was fine.”
Elordi’s biggest issue with The Kissing Booth series was how he was perceived in Hollywood.
“I used to worry a lot about what people thought about me, and about the kind of actor I was because of the movies I’d made,” he explained during an interview with Esquire from November 2021. “I just felt very corny, and I felt like I had to prove to everyone that I was a serious actor. I felt terribly misunderstood.”
Despite his feelings about The Kissing Booth movies, Elordi clarified that he’s “so f—king grateful” for the opportunity. “I wouldn’t be here making movies and TV if I didn’t make those movies,” he told Access in January 2022.
Elordi has gone on to star in Euphoria and his latest movie, Priscilla, directed by Sofia Coppola, is in theaters now.
