Frankenstein’s Jacob Elordi reveals why his monster has Yorkshire accent in Netflix movie

As Frankenstein premieres at Venice Film Festival, star Jacob Elordi has explained why his creature in the film has a bit of an unexpected quality – a hint of a Yorkshire accent.

The Australian actor, 28, portrays the ‘monster’ creation of the titular Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac) in Guillermo del Toro’s sweeping gothic adaptation of Mary Shelly’s 1818 novel for Netflix.

In a press conference on Friday afternoon attended by Metro, Elordi confirmed that the distinct flatter, shorter vowel sounds heard in words he speaks like ‘blood’ and ‘pumping’ were a deliberate nod to a Yorkshire accent.

‘David Bradley, who plays the blind man, is from that part of the world – so when the creature learns to speak, there are little bits and bobs [in there],’ he explained of his character’s voice in the upcoming film.

He also appeared surprised and delighted – alongside filmmaker del Toro – that British journalists had been able to pick up on that from a first viewing.

‘I’m glad you noticed it, that’s very cool,’ the Narrow Road to the Deep North actor added.

Veteran performer Bradley, 83, was born in York and previously played Geppetto in del Toro’s Oscar-winning animation Pinocchio in 2022.

Elordi only had three weeks to prepare for the role after replacing original actor Andrew Garfield in the part, but it appears it has had a profound impact on him.

Discussing why this interpretation of playing Frankenstein’s monster – far removed from Boris Karloff’s green-skinned, bolt-necked version for Universal horror movies in the 1930s – appealed to him, Elordi said the creature was ‘more me than I am’.

‘The reason I was drawn to it, is it’s a vessel that I can put every part of myself into, everything that’s unconscious from the moment I was born to being here with you today, all of it is in that character. And in so many ways, the creature that’s on screen in this movie is the purest form of myself. He’s more me than I am,’ he shared.

‘As a performer, if you can achieve that in something that you think you’re going to get lost in, if you can find yourself in a character that you plan to get lost in, I think that’s a really beautiful thing that can happen – and that’s what happened to me. I’m only realising that now, in hindsight.’

In terms of appearance, this creature is a totally new design from acclaimed horror auteur del Toro, who wanted to focus on the character as ‘a newborn’, and took inspiration from the look of alabaster statues.

‘A lot of the interpretations of the creature visually are almost like accident victims – and I wanted beauty,’ he explained, clarifying that a rule he put in place was ‘no stitches’.

‘Victor is an artist, and if you’ve been dreaming of this for 20 years, he would make a perfect, beautiful thing. We based the hair on phrenology diagrams in the 1800s and the body, we tried to make sense of the lines of cutting with surgery, but also beauty.’

On tackling the main part, a mad scientist who is interpreted here as more of an artist, Isaac revealed he was still struggling to believe it had happened as ‘it just seemed like such a pinnacle’.

‘Guillermo said, “I’m creating this banquet for you, you just have to show up and eat”, and that was the truth. There was a fusion – I just hooked myself into Guillermo, and we flung ourselves down the well.’

Turning to pay tribute to his director, the 46-year-old added: ‘It really is a testament to how much you were personal and poured your heart into it, and that allowed all of us to want to do the same thing.’

Pan’s Labyrinth filmmaker del Toro described his passion for the story of Frankenstein – and quest to make his own adaptation – as ‘a religion for me’.

‘I was raised very Catholic and I never quite understood the saints. And then when I saw Boris Karloff on the screen, I understood what a saint or a messiah looked like. I’ve been following the creature since I was a kid, and I always waited for the movie to be done in the right conditions, both creatively and in terms of achieving the scope that it needed for me to make it different, to make it at a scale that you could reconstruct the whole world.’

‘And now I’m in postpartum depression,’ he joked, having completed his 30-year goal.

Frankenstein premieres at Venice Film Festival on Friday. It will be released in select cinemas on October 17, before streaming exclusively on Netflix from November 7.

Got a story?

If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.