Jacob Elordi Calls The Kissing Booth Trilogy ‘Ridiculous’: ‘I Didn’t Want to Make Those Movies’

Jacob Elordi might have The kissing booth trilogy to thank for starting his career, but that doesn’t mean he looks back on that experience fondly.

Elordi, 26, reflected on his breakout 2018 role in the first film of the teenage romance trilogy for GQMen of the Year in the release, revealing, “I didn’t want to make those movies before I made those movies.”

“Those movies are funny. They are not universal. They’re an escape,” added the actor about the three films that were adapted from Beth Reekles’ 2012 novel of the same name.

In the films, he played football star bad boy Noah Flynn, the lover of leading lady Ella Evans (Joey King) and the older brother of her best friend, Lee Flynn (Joel Courtney).

The kissing booth marked one of Elordi’s first films, but after signing two sequels, the Australian actor felt dissatisfied, to say the least.

“My ‘one for them,’ I did it,” he told the outlet for the film, referring to the concept of grinning and sticking through it in hopes of landing a better project down the line. Elordi described it as a “trap” because “it can become 15 for them and nothing for you. You have no original ideas and you’re dead inside. So it’s a good dance.”

Jacob Elordi poses for GQ’s ‘Man of the Year’ issue.

Jack Bridgland/GQ

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The Euphoria star also shared his two cents about how he feels about the backlash he’s faced for expressing regret about the role — including being told he’s being pretentious for sharing his opinion.

“How is caring about your score pretentious?” he said, adding, “But not caring, and knowingly feeding people s—, knowing you’re cashing in on people’s time, which is literally the most valuable thing they have. How is that a great thing?”

Now, Elordi said he thinks the reason he’s “so happy” is because he’s working on projects that fulfill him creatively, like the Sofia Coppola project Priscilla and Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn.

Jacob Elordi poses on the cover of GQ’s ‘Men of the Year’ issue.

Jack Bridgland/GQ

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This is not the first time that Elordi has openly expressed his regrets The kissing booth movies. Last year, he said GQ Hype that he hit back at the film team for certain creative decisions that changed his character from the book.

“I remember saying, ‘He’s smoking in the book. I’ve got to smoke. He’s got to have cigarettes. He’s a bad boy,'” Elordi said, adding that his request was closed.

“I thought, ‘This is bulls—!’ I remember that’s why I went to war,” he continued. “I thought, ‘Are we lying to the fucking millions of 14-year-olds out there? This guy’s smoking nicotine. Here on page four it says — look!’ I guess people were like, “Fucking Jesus Christ. Is this guy serious?” ”

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After working on three Netflix films, Elordi was cast as Nate Jacobs in the HBO film Euphoria. Tracking Euphoria — whose third season premiered in 2025 — expanded further into film, with this year’s Priscilla and Saltburn.

However, there is one role he wasn’t so open about, which he shared GQ: Superman.

On the possibility of playing a superhero, he said: “I don’t see that I would be interested in it. I like to do what I would watch, and I get very restless watching those movies.”

“Well, they asked me to read for Superman,” he added. “It was immediately, ‘No thanks.’ That is too much. It’s too dark for me.”

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Source: HIS Education