Jacob Elordi never fails to push himself. Since his breakout role playing the bad boy love interest in teen rom-com The Kissing Booth, he has played a testosterone-riddled athlete on Euphoria and is gearing up to portray the one and only Elvis in Sophia Coppola’s Priscilla. If that wasn’t enough, Elordi is also set to star in a steamy role alongside Diego Calva.
The pair will star in On Swift Horses, based on the novel of the same name by Shannon Pufahl. The recently announced film features a star-studded cast, including Daisy Edgar-Jones, Will Poulter and Sasha Calle.
The film, directed by Daniel Minahan, will depict newlyweds Muriel (Edgar-Jones) and Lee (Poulter) following Lee’s return home from the Korean War. The couple’s happy new life is interrupted with the arrival of Lee’s magnetic younger brother Julius (Elordi), “a wayward gambler with a secret.”
“It was so cool to work with him,” said Calva of his co-star to Variety at the SAG awards. “He’s obsessed with photography, he’s obsessed with old plays. He loves Tennessee Williams, he loves Chekhov. He’s not the guy you maybe think he is. He’s such a cool actor. He’s just amazing. I feel very proud.”
“I don’t know if I can say this but we are going to have pretty hot scenes in this movie…You have to wait. But I think it will be a pretty cool movie.” He added.
While the Mexican actor is looking forward to the world seeing his “hot scenes” with Elordi, some corners of the internet are hesitant, arguing that straight actors are unable to relate to the queer experience themselves, and that an actor who identifies as LGBT+ would be better suited for the role.
This isn’t the first time a cis- identifying actor has been criticized for fulfilling a role written as LGBTQ+. Theo James faced a similar backlash at the beginning of the year when he was speculated to be a lead contender in a George Michael biopic.
Source: Papermag
