Jacob Elordi might be best known these days for playing Euphoria character Nate Jacobs, the manipulative and violent on-off boyfriend of Maddy (Alexa Demi). But his big break came in the romance movie industry, where he played bad boy heartthrob Noah Flynn opposite Joey King, who played his girlfriend Elle Evans.
The Kissing Booth, which is based on the 2012 Wattpad novel by Beth Reekles, tells the story of childhood besties Elle Evans and Lee Flynn. In order to preserve their friendship, they have compiled a number of rules for one another: one of which includes never dating the best friend’s sibling. Naturally, this all goes haywire after Elle ends up inadvertently kissing Lee’s brother, Noah, at the titular kissing booth. The pair then end up secretly dating, and drama, of course, ensues. Enough drama to make three Netflix teen movies, in fact.
The first Kissing Booth film was released in 2018, and was shot in South Africa in 2017. But after the rom-com was released and Elordi shot to fame, he admitted in an interview with GQ that felt overwhelmed and was close to quitting acting.
“[It] might sound quite sensitive and dramatic, but I am sensitive and I’m very dramatic. I hated being a character to the public. I felt so far from myself,” he explained. “It felt like, all of a sudden, I was a poster. Like I was a billboard. It felt like it was for sale. Then my brain went through the fucking wringer. Like, I wasn’t sure if I was genuine. It really skews your view…. It creates a very paranoid way of living.”
The good news is, despite the scrutiny from the press, Elordi stuck with acting and not only gave us two more Kissing Booth movies, but also the drama series villain we love to hate. You can catch him next in Euphoria season 3.