Ever since The Kissing Booth hit Netflix in the summer of 2018, Jacob Elordi has become an instant teen heartthrob. The Australian actor has since finished off the trilogy, but when recently reflecting on his career, Elordi admitted he went “to war” over one aspect of the role that was cut out: smoking.
The Kissing Booth is based on novels by Beth Reekles. When speaking to how he prepared for his role in the Netflix hit, Jacob Elordi recalled looking at the source material super closely, and when one detail was removed for the movie, he let the production know about it. While he admitted to GQ it feels a little “absurd” these days, he was caught up on Noah Flynn not being a smoker in the movies after the character was in the book. In his words:
I was like, This is bullshit! I remember going to war for it. I was like, Are we lying to the fucking millions of 14-year-olds out there? This guy smokes nicotine. It says here on page four—look! I imagine people were just like, ‘Jesus fucking Christ. Is this guy serious?’
Elordi shared he remembers thinking Noah needed to smoke in the movies because he does in the books, and he wanted to show how much of a “bad boy” this character was. However, Netflix decided that would not be the case in the movies that became super popular on the streaming site. The Kissing Booth 2 still remains among Netflix’s top 10 most popular original films (based on its first 28 days) two years after its release. Elordi continued:
For me, acting is breathing. I didn’t finish university, I barely finished high school. All I know is from the books I’ve read, and the plays that I’ve read.
While there never ended up being any smoking for Noah Flynn, Joey King did recently admit that she got super stoned with the cast while filming the last movie. She even pointed to one scene in particular where she’s most definitely baked. You can check out The Kissing Booth movies now with a Netflix subscription.
Along with The Kissing Booth, which concluded last year with The Kissing Booth 3, to a bittersweet ending, Jacob Elordi has also become well known for playing Nate Jacobs on Euphoria, which had a massive Season 2 at the top of the year. In the more mature depiction of teens, where Elordi and Sydney Sweeney filmed nude scenes, the actor shared he watched documentaries of sharks to prepare and went to gyms where TikTokers trained and used that observation of behavior for the role.
It’s clear Jacob Elordi takes acting seriously, even if he’s aware of how too seriously he was taking it just a few years ago. It is true that fans look at details like smoking when watching book-to-movie adaptations, so he wasn’t too off course. Now that he’s graduated from the teen Netflix romance, I'm certainly curious where the actor will take his tenacity for character next.
