Page 165 - Flaunt 175 - Diana

speaking out, you form that opinion, and you want to give that opinion.”
When asked if he feels similarly to any of the characters he plays, Elordi jokes and replies, “Well I look a lot like them.” He then shows me his dogs Leila and Milo over zoom who look like two squirming balls of fur. Elordi is vastly different from his characters portrayed on screen—he is compassionate and warmhearted and espouses a receptiveness to others, a far cry from the cockiness and occasional selfishness we’ve seen. He shares that he puts a lot of effort into separating himself from his characters as much as possible.
What makes Elordi such a good actor, though, is his ability to exit the distance, exit the forest, and immerse in his scripted persona—a package of pathology
and purpose. “If I make a film set
in the 60s, I learn everything about
what it would be like to be in the
60s,” he attests. “It’s almost like I
nearly get to live something that I
didn’t live, and then, when I go to
set or step on stage, I get to live it.
Whoever I am at home, or whatever
world I live in, I get to leave it and
go to a different place, for a brief
period of time.”
True to the moment we live in, Elordi’s performances play a huge part in how entertainment can
shift social perspective and prompt self-reflection. In both The Kissing Booth and Euphoria, he brings to
life an alternate reality that still hits notes of real life and current issues. The execution of the roles evokes a sense of relevance, with the appeal of being transported into an incon- ceivable world. “I think art is there to hold a mirror up to the times and what’s happening and to display them truthfully,” he remarks, “but I think entertainment is there not to blind the masses, but to maybe give people a break from the reflection of real life for a little while.”
Since the pandemic, Elordi has
taken time to wind down and spend
more time by himself. He wakes up
when he wants, makes himself a warm cup of coffee, and watch- es movies and reads books for the remainder of the day. He suggests reading Timebends: A Life by Arthur Miller and watch- ing Black Bear, two of his new favorites. “I think I’ve had a lot of time to myself,” he shares, “to overcome a lot more as a person. I used to feel like if my feet stopped moving, I would perish. But I’m much more calm now—in everything that I do.”
The pandemic has been a turning point for many in terms of mental health, and it has been no different for Elordi, as he has had to come to terms with the new normal. “It’s kind of like a pendulum of happy and sad, and then not sad, and feeling everything all at once,” he suggests. “And I think one thing to do, that I like to do anyway, is being okay with both ends of the spectrum. I’m just lucky to have a passion. Having something that’s mine—something that I can identify with, love, and put myself into wholeheartedly. It helps me feel like I belong and keeps me connected.”
Elordi’s love for the world of cinema also plays a large role in maintaining his mental health, he shares. There is nothing he enjoys more than finding a new favorite movie and entering a new era, space, or world. “Whenever anything gets too dark or too difficult to handle, I’ve always said this: ‘I’ll always have movies. Always.’ And it’s nice to have that kind of pillar in the ground.”
With fame comes certain reservations for Elordi. He attests that it’s exhausting at times to be seen as the characters he plays on TV, when in reality he has a multitude of layers that make
up the person he is. “I’d love to just be able to be an actor in a bubble and have no one know anything about me,” he says, “and every time they see me, they have no idea who I am, but I’m just playing different characters each time. I think it’s the bullshit that surrounds acting—that is what I have a lot of reservations about.” Nonetheless, he is passionate and driven about what
he does well. “I think above all, I want people to see kindness,” he affirms. “Jack Kerouac has this quote, from a poem, and it says, ‘for Christ’s sakes, stand up and be true, or shut up and sit down.’ And that’s all I ever really want to do—just be entirely
DIOR MEN shirt and pants and CARTIER necklace and bracelets.
Groomer: Castillo Bataille Location: Sofitel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills
honest. With everyone and in everything that I do.”
Elordi thrives on con- nectivity—be it the books and entertainment he absorbs or in the environments to which he retreats. Alas, as we have faced confinement within stale walls and manmade architecture,
the desire to connect with the textures of the Earth, hear the sounds of a trickling river, and breathe in crisp air has become more meaningful and desirable. For Elordi, this is nothing new. Much of his upbringing revolved around bonding with the natural world—it was a matter of recon- necting with these roots. “I think we humans seem to always be reaching for, like, the next rem- edy, or the next thing to prolong our time, or the next thing to better our life,” he says. “We’re a part of the Earth—the same as a dog, a tree, or a bird, and every- thing we need is out there. So my whole life has been: if you have a cold, you go outside in the sun. I grew up like that.”
As he finds himself back
in the complex and competitive cosmopolitan sprawl of Los An-
geles, he is ready to plant a new seed, ready to do what he loves after restoring his energies. He recently wrapped up filming the third and final installment of the The Kissing Booth. The final chapter is a bittersweet end to a journey that defined the actor’s career, but he is glad to put a bow on it and bring the fanbase a heart-tugging conclusion. Now, Elordi will focus on filming the second season of Euphoria, one of the more painfully delayed by the pandemic pieces of entertainment out there. In so doing, Elordi hopes for new beginnings and the ability to connect with others on a more personal level this year. “It’s so differ- ent, because one of the biggest parts of acting is just talking to everyone and sitting with the crew and eating with the crew and stuff like that. And all of that has kind of changed,” and he adds optimistically, “I hope we can get back to normal.”
On his way back home from a recent walk to the waterfall in Australia, Elordi notices a large lizard slithering near his bare feet. When he gets home, he googles it, and learns that the fish-looking lizard is a land mullet, and in order for it to have been as big as the one he saw, it would have to be around 20 years old. “While I’ve been doing everything I’ve been doing,” the actor ponderously concludes, “this lizard has just been in this forest growing.” Perhaps an allegory for the mismatched lives we all live, ones that sometimes intersect and sometimes never do, but that all play a role in the ecosystem around us.
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PHOTOGRAPHER: JONNY MARLOW AT EARLY MORNING RIOT. STYLIST: ZOE COSTELLO. GROOMER: CASTILLO BATAILLE AT OPUS BEAUTY. PHOTO ASSISTANTS: RAM GIBSON AND JULIEN MOORIS. STYLING ASSISTANT: BRANDON YAMADA. LOCATION: SOFITEL LOS ANGELES AT BEVERLY HILLS. VIDEOGRAPHER: ALEX MCDONELL AT EARLY MORNING RIOT.