Jacob Elordi was just a lonely Brisbane schoolboy trying to survive his adolescence before breaking into Hollywood. 

The 28-year-old has spoken candidly in the past about the hostility he faced at his all-boys Catholic school once he began pursuing his love of theatre – making him a target among his cruel classmates.

‘From the moment I did a play I was called “gay” at school,’ Jacob told GQ in 2022.

Jacob added it was more socially acceptable to play in the school’s rugby team than to perform on stage and he had to work hard to fight cruel stereotyping.

‘I had this abundance of confidence in myself because I could do both: I was quite good at sport, at theatre,’ he said. 

He said he learned to steel himself against the criticism of his peers and did not let their comments affect him – a skill which later helped him play complex, morally ambiguous characters, such as on the HBO series Euphoria. 

Jacob Elordi was just a lonely Brisbane schoolboy trying to survive his adolescence before breaking into Hollywood 

The 28-year-old has spoken candidly in the past about the hostility he faced at his all-boys Catholic school once he began pursuing his love of theatre – making him a target among his cruel classmates. (Pictured in 2015)

‘I felt like I was above it, it made me feel older… made me feel wiser. I was never worried my peers would think I was less than a man,’ he said.

‘I was doing plays with girls’ schools… I’m spending my weekends with the most beautiful women from the school next door, reading the most romantic words ever written.’

In one formative moment, Jacob recalled appearing in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, playing the King of the Fairies – a role that drew further ridicule.

He said: ‘When they said I was gay, I remember leaning in to the makeup. I was like, if I’m going to be the King of the Fairies, then I’m going to be the f***ing hottest King you’ve seen.

‘I enjoyed playing the actor. I stepped away from beer, sport culture. I was like, “Well, if you think this is gay, I’m going to be who I am when I was your friend, which is this hetero guy”, but I’m going to play the arts.

‘I’m going to do it, I’m going to show you that’s bull***t. I never understand – how could you label anything?

‘How could you label sport as masculine? How does your sexuality inform your prowess as an athlete, your prowess as a performer?’

He said that getting cast in the HBO series Euphoria became a turning point in his early career; as it reinforced his determination to meet challenges head-on. 

Jacob was raised by parents John and Melissa. (Pictured with his mother in 2020)

The Queensland–born performer has long made clear that acting was not a vanity project – it was an escape route from his challenging life

Like many Australian boys, young Jacob was also incredibly interested in sport and at a whopping 6’5, he excelled at both rugby and basketball, initially juggling acting and sport with ease.

But then a shock injury saw it all come crashing down and the decision about which to pursue professionally was made for him.

He incurred a debilitating back injury in 2013 – at just 16 years old – that shattered his once-promising sporting future, abruptly ending the physical identity he had once relied on.

For some, this would have been the end – but for Jacob it became the beginning of something else.

With sport no longer an option, acting stopped being just something he loved doing – and became his only option.

Upon graduation, Jacob chased his acting dreams with single-minded obsession.

Despite repeated auditions for Home and Away and Neighbours, and even being kicked out of drama school for breaking audition rules, he faced endless rejection.

Then came the lowest point of them all, shortly before his big breakthrough in the US.

‘I was essentially homeless when I auditioned for Euphoria,’ Jacob later admitted.

He had no stable income, no permanent place to live, with a dream hanging by a thread – and then somehow everything changed when he got a callback to appear in a Netflix movie starring US actress Joey King.

He said that getting cast in the HBO series Euphoria became a turning point in his early career; as it reinforced his determination to meet challenges head-on. Pictured on Euphoria

Jacob had no permanent place to live – and then somehow everything changed when  finally got a callback about appearing in a movie starring Joey King. (Pictured together in The Kissing Booth)

Jacob first tasted global fame in that production, where he played dreamy teen Noah Flynn, becoming a heartthrob after finally finding success with his 104th audition tape.

The success of the teen comedy was almost immediate, with it spawning two sequels Jacob also starred in, quickly turning him into a movie star.

The attention was overwhelming to Jacob, who had gained millions of social media followers overnight.

‘Couldn’t really go anywhere!’ he said of the sudden fame.

‘Had to go through and delete my high school pictures because that was the Instagram I used for my life. How drastic!’

But it was Euphoria – a raw, controversial teen drama – that transformed his career and paved the way for the mentally tormented anti-hero characters he excels at portraying. 

As Nate Jacobs, he plays what many critics have described as toxic masculinity incarnate: violent, manipulative, deeply disturbed and emotionally repressed.

Jacob says he had to work extremely hard to get to the heart of the complicated character.

‘His whole thing is secrets,’ Jacob has said of Nate. 

‘Keeping everything hidden. He’s deliberately misunderstood… he doesn’t wear his heart on his sleeve. It’s impossible not to misunderstand him… he’s never honest.’

By the time Euphoria premiered in 2019, Jacob’s life had fully transformed.

The show became a cultural phenomenon, praised for its visuals and performances – and unrelenting explicitness.

Jacob suddenly found himself on red carpets, magazine covers and on the radar of major Hollywood filmmakers.

Yet the scars of his past didn’t disappear.

He has spoken openly about struggling with the loss of anonymity and the intensity of public scrutiny, particularly around his relationships. 

Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie’s provocative Wuthering Heights is showing no signs of slowing down

The film opened with a massive $76.8 million global debut, including $34.8million in North America across its first three days – the biggest opening of the year so far

After being linked to high-profile women including Zendaya and Kaia Gerber, Jacob once posted a simple message on Instagram: ‘This is a reminder I am a human being.’

In 2022, he admitted to GQ that at one stage he had considered walking away from fame so he could try to resume his ‘normal’ life.

‘That might sound quite sensitive and dramatic, but I am sensitive, dramatic,’ he said.

‘I hated being a character to the public. I felt so far from myself. Felt like I was a poster. Like I was a billboard.’

In December, Jacob’s discomfort with constant attention came to a head in Paris, when he was filmed attempting to board a train, visibly distressed as paparazzi swarmed him. 

‘You make it really hard for me to live,’ he quietly told one photographer, reflecting his ongoing discomfort in the spotlight.

Despite everything, Jacob has wowed audiences with roles in Frankenstein, Priscilla, Saltburn and, more recently, Wuthering Heights alongside Margot Robbie.