The Beloved Movies Jacob Elordi Regrets Starring In

Sometimes, an actor takes a role and later wishes they hadn't. Jacob Elordi's rise to fame included starring in Netflix's "The Kissing Booth" trilogy. The first movie released in 2018, and in it, Elordi played Noah, the main love interest for Joey King's character Elle. They begin secretly dating because Noah's brother and Elle's best friend Lee (played by Joel Courtney) didn't want them together. The titular kissing booth is a major plot point, and like any good teen rom-com, the sequels from 2020 and 2021 include a rival love interest and an on-again, off-again relationship for Elle and Noah. In a 2023 interview with GQ originally written for their "Men Of The Year" edition, Elordi discussed his disdain for "The Kissing Booth."

"I didn't want to make those movies before I made those movies," Elordi said. "Those movies are ridiculous. They're not universal. They're an escape." Alas, he needed work, so he took the gig. When the interviewer mentioned how taking the job anyway follows Hollywood's "one for them, one for me" mindset, Elordi said actors can get stuck with that mentality. He added, "So it's a fine dance. My 'one for them,' I've done it."

Elordi also expressed confusion at being called "pretentious" for his opinions on "The Kissing Booth." He then said, "But not caring, and knowingly feeding people s***, knowing that you're making money off of people's time, which is literally the most valuable thing that they have. How is that the cool thing?" 

Jacob Elordi's comments on "The Kissing Booth" trilogy contradict what he told Access Hollywood in 2020 about "The Kissing Booth 2." The interviewer said people on X, formerly known as Twitter, thought Elordi seemed "miserable" in the film's trailer. Elordi denied that he felt that way.

"No, no!" he said. "I have a resting miserable face. [...] It's because I'm usually thinking a lot about — like, an insane amount about something ridiculous." Elordi admitted to getting lost in his own thoughts and missing an interview question in an earlier interview about "The Kissing Booth 2." He added, "He's like a moody dude," referring to Noah's trademark bad boy attitude.

"No, I wasn't miserable," Elordi continued. "I was bloody tired, but I wasn't miserable. [...] I had a blast." The tiredness was likely true, because Elordi said he started filming "The Kissing Booth" sequel very shortly after wrapping on "Euphoria." But, it seems he might have been overexaggerating just how good of a time he had based on his GQ comments three years later.

Some of Jacob Elordi's co-stars voiced their own opinions on "The Kissing Booth" following his statements. The familiar-looking actor who played Marco in "The Kissing Booth" series, Taylor Zakhar Perez, had a different take away from his experience. When Perez attended 2023's GQ Men Of The Year party, he shared his thoughts on Elordi's comments: "I thought it was a shame because to my knowledge, everybody else had such a wonderful experience" (via Variety). He mentioned talking to fans and seeing how important "The Kissing Booth" is to them, "and what it brought them during such a dark time," meaning the COVID-19 pandemic. Perez added, "I guess the silver lining is [Elordi] still made people laugh and feel good."

The trilogy's star Joey King also shared her two cents. King told Variety, "I think it's unfortunate anyone would feel that way. I had a great time making those movies no matter what anyone says." She also said that a fourth "Kissing Booth" film could flash forward to the future, when the characters are middle-aged.

At the same party Perez attended, Elordi was asked about "The Kissing Booth" and told Variety, "I'm incredibly grateful to everybody in it." He may have no bad blood for his fellow stars, despite not enjoying the experience as much as them.