Jacob Elordi looks worlds apart from his breakout role as the self-styled king of rock n’roll in two smouldering snaps as he covers GQ’s Global Men of the Year issue.
The actor, 26, revealed a rather different look for the publication after gorging on junk food to play legendary singer Elvis Presley, whose weight notoriously ballooned before his death aged 42 in 1977, in Sofia Coppola’s acclaimed biopic Priscilla.
Discussing his weight gain in the latest issue of British GQ, he said: ‘It was the first time in my life that I ever had a gut. Bacon. It was about a pound of bacon every day.
‘And then when I’d go to Canada – it was poutine and hamburgers. It’s really my pleasure. I could order Uber Eats and be like, ‘Should I get that burger after I’ve just had Italian? Yeah. Yeah, I will.’
As well as gorging on junk food, to prepare for the role, Jacob read Priscilla Presley’s memoir, ordered old DVDs of past performances by Elvis and watched YouTube videos until he was certain he had seen nearly every piece of available footage that existed of the singer.
Heartthrob: Priscilla star Jacob Elordi looks worlds apart in two smoldering snaps as he covers GQ’s Global Men of the Year and reveals how he piled on the pounds to play Elvis
Suits you: The young actor donned a tuxedo as he became the latest famous face to grace the special GQ issue
But, he admitted that Austin Butler’s star turn as the singer just last year had also ‘crossed his mind’ in preparation.
He added: ‘It certainly crossed my mind briefly before I’d read the script. I don’t want to tell the same story over, especially because he did such a fine job of portraying this man.
‘It’s a completely different thing. And it’s terribly exciting, too, running into the fire a little bit. I can’t think of anything more exhilarating.’
For the GQ shoot, the Kissing Booth actor had his dark fringe swept neatly over half of his forehead and completed his look with a black scarf.
In a second picture for the special issue of the magazine, Jacob gave a smoldering look as he wore a formal outfit.
The Australian star cocked his head slightly to one side and slung a tuxedo jacket loosely over his shoulders.
Underneath the jacket, he kept to traditional with the white shirt and dickie bow tie as he posed next to a bunch of flowers.
Before landing a plum role as Elvis, Jacob was known for starring alongside Joey King in the Kissing Booth series but admitted that he didn’t initially want to appear in the movies at all.
His method: Jacob Elordi confirmed to that he ‘ate a pound of bacon a day’ as part of his method acting to play the role of Elvis Presley in the new biopic
Weight gain: After confirming he stuffed his face with an Elvis favorite, the Aussie actor told Coppola ”it’s not that noticeable because I’m quite long, but I was the biggest I’ve ever been’
Previous roles: Prior to taking on the role of the Hound Dog rocker, Jacob was known for his roles in Kissing Booth and Euphoria
He said: ‘I didn’t want to make those movies before I made those movies. Those movies are ridiculous. They’re not universal. They’re an escape.’
The actor also draws a vague line under the possibility of starring in a future superhero movie – despite Christian Bale and the late Heath Ledger, two of his role models, winning accolades for their respective roles as Batman and The Joker in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight.
He said: I’ve always been told to say a rounded answer or my agent will get mad at me. “Anything can happen!” And obviously anything happen, but at this stage in my life, I don’t see myself having any interest in that.
‘I like to make what I would watch, and I get very restless watching those movies.’
The December/January issue of British GQ is available via digital download and on newsstands on 28 November.
