With Frankenstein, Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro (Pinocchio, Cabinet of Curiosities, The Shape of Water) adapts Mary Shelley's classic tale of Victor Frankenstein, a brilliant but egotistical scientist who brings a creature to life in a monstrous experiment that ultimately leads to the undoing of both the creator and his tragic creation.
The project is a lifelong dream fulfilled for the filmmaker, and Vanity Fair has finally shared a first look at Jacob Elordi as the titular scientist's horrifying monster.
Talking to the site, del Toro said, "These are the parallels between Pinocchio and Frankenstein. It’s the idea of a person going from a baby to a human being in a short span of time and being exposed to everything—cold, warmth, violence, love, loss. And then going to his creator to say, 'Why? Why did you put me here? Why didn’t you give me the answers? What do I have to learn in my suffering?'"
Discussing his approach to playing Frankenstein's monster, Elordi explained that the legendary Boris Karloff (who starred in 1931's Frankenstein) was a major source of inspiration for him.
"I devoured all of his monsters," the actor revealed. "At first I thought, 'I’ll stay away from this. I want to do my own thing.' And then I asked Guillermo, 'Should I watch the other Frankensteins?' And he goes, 'What the f*** do you mean?' I was like, 'Well, I don’t want it to be influenced.' He says, 'My friend, it’s a movie, it can’t [frick]ing hurt you.' I went home, and I just binged them."
He hopes that what he saw rubbed off. "Something in his gaze, something in the way that he moves. The biggest thing was just immersing myself in the world of these creatures."
At the center of Frankenstein are Oscar Isaac (Ex Machina, Inside Llewyn Davis), Jacob Elordi (Saltburn, Priscilla), and Mia Goth (X, Emma).
Joining that main trio are Felix Kammerer (All Quiet on the Western Front), Lars Mikkelsen (The Witcher, Ahsoka), David Bradley (Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio, the Harry Potter films), Christian Convery (Sweet Tooth), with Charles Dance (Game of Thrones, Mank) and Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained).
Frankenstein lurches onto Netflix this November.