LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jacob Elordi is suddenly everywhere in Hollywood — so much so that he thinks he must be dreaming.
Amid a remarkable streak of high-profile projects with respected filmmakers — Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla,” Guillermo del Toro’s upcoming adaptation of “Frankenstein” and, in theaters now, Paul Schrader’s “Oh, Canada” — the 27-year-old isn’t taking his success for granted.
“I don’t want to be so arrogant as to say like, you know, ‘I choose what is befitting of me,’” he said in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press. “I’m very grateful because to say you choose these things sort of seems too conscious or something. I kind of am in a constant state of like, ‘Wake me up from this.’”
“Oh, Canada” tells the story of Leonard Fife (Richard Gere), an acclaimed documentarian on his deathbed who, in what becomes a final act of confession, agrees to have the cameras turned toward him for a documentary about his own life.
Elordi plays a young Fife in the film, based on Russell Banks’ 2021 novel, “Foregone.” Despite their physical differences, Elordi’s performance as a younger Gere is believable, thanks in part to the amount of effort he put into studying Gere’s mannerisms.
“Richard has such a rich career of films and a really diverse range of films so there was a lot to watch and just kind of copy him, you know? Like Simon Says or something,” Elordi said. “The best one for physicality was ‘American Gigolo,’ because I think he was 29 or something when he made that film. So, it’s, you know, not far from where I am now.”
Schrader is not known for making big-budget blockbusters. And while the filmmaker has reaped critical praise throughout his prolific career, he’s made his share of panned flops.
But that hasn’t stopped the 78-year-old from cementing his reputation as a pioneering auteur with an impressive catalog of actors who admire and work with him, including Amanda Seyfried,Willem Dafoe,Oscar Isaac and Nicolas Cage.
“There’s a list of people who have sort of given to the art form of cinema and he’s right up at the top of it,” Elordi said. “As soon as the email comes through and it says Paul Schrader, you go, ‘OK.’”
Despite that kind of reputation, Schrader is not one to break box office records. As he has looked back on his career, he’s been frank about not prioritizing the immediate financial success of the dozens of films he’s made.
“To me, shelf life is more valuable than the box office,” Schrader said. “I don’t expect that much from opening weekend.”
Instead, he evaluates a different set of criteria when determining how he feels about a film in his archive: “If I get it made, that’s the first level of success. If it’s taken seriously, that’s the second level of success. And if it actually works with audiences, that’s the third.”
While his films aren’t necessarily avant-garde or experimental, Schrader makes the kinds of movies talked about more among film buffs than mass audiences. His 2017 “First Reformed,” for example, will not satiate those who crave closure or clear-cut endings. And “Oh, Canada” is not exactly action-packed.
But Elordi rejects the notion that Schrader’s movies aren’t accessible to a wide audience.
“That kind of gives you like this elitist feel, you know? I hate that cinema conversation,” he said. “There’s a language in cinema that doesn’t really take a long time to learn if you are sort of watching healthy things.”
Still, Elordi acknowledged certain movies require patience and a willingness to sit with ambiguity.
“My mom says stuff like that to me all the time. She’s like, ‘Yeah, but the movie can’t just end. Like, I need to know about this, this and this.’ And I’m like, ‘No, no, the movie can just end, and you can go away and think about it,’” he said.
