He’s a woman’s man.
Forget the boyish charms of Timothée Chalamet — women of all ages are hot and bothered for the strapping Jacob Elorodi. Hollywood has found its new leading man in the 6-foot-5 Aussie heartthrob, who stars as the brooding anti-hero Heathcliff in Emerald Fennell’s sexed up adaption of “Wuthering Heights,” in theaters now.
“He’s classically hot. Hollywood hot. Tall, striking eyes, defined jawline. He dresses in masculine, minimalist suits. He carries himself like a man,” Gizem Ozcelik, 37, founder of GO PR, a New York-based public relations firm, told Page Six.
“The unpredictable, undeniable, sexual currency he brings to the screen is something everyone can appreciate. Not just because it’s live-wire electric, but because it’s so very rare,” added J.R. Ward, 56 and the best-selling romance author of the forthcoming “Crown of War and Shadow.” “We are willing captives of that stare of his.”
With a string of challenging, interesting roles, the 28-year-old Elordi has shown that he’s more than just a pretty face — though he’s certainly that too, with his taunt cheek bones, bushy brows and hooded brown eyes.
“He plays these emotionally complex characters that gives him even more sex appeal. It makes you want to save him,” said Ozcelik.
She saw “Wuthering Heights” on Thursday night and said the lusty film made her “come undone.”
He and co-star Margot Robbie “have so much chemistry . . . it’s almost, like, feral,” Ozcelik said. “I loved it. I was crying at the end — bawling.”
Fellow Elordi fan Alexa Defina, a 34-year-old Upper East Sider who works in marketing, also rushed to see the film on Thursday and was very satisfied.
“Jacob’s Heathcliff was so dark and obsessive . . . just raw and intense . . . very hot, leading-man energy,” she told Page Six. “Swoon!”
While Elordi can certainly carry a film on his broad shoulders, insiders note he’s unique amongst his fellow lead actors.
“I don’t think of Timothée Chalamet as an adult man — and he is, but he’s not. He is a movie star because he’s got that spark and he’s incredibly talented . . . [but] Jacob Elordi is possibly the kind of actor who could grow into — if anybody was going to remake ‘Gone With The Wind,’ he could star in it. He’s that man. That timeless male lead,” said casting director Gary Zuckerbrod, who discovered Elordi and put him in the 2018 teen rom-com “The Kissing Booth.”
Elordi hails from humble beginnings. He grew up working class in Brisbane. Dad was a painter, mom worked in the school cafeteria.
At 17, he was cast as an extra in “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.”
Two years later, he landed his breakthrough role in Netflix’s “The Kissing Booth” and things took off from there.
“This was a kid who had done nothing — some local theater in Brisbane. He had a fluidity. He had charm that was irresistible. You couldn’t take your eyes off of him,” recalled Zuckerbrod.
After “The Kissing Booth,” Elordi showed that he wasn’t just a heartthrob for the high school set, playing the terrifyingly toxic jock Nate Jacobs in HBO’s edgy “Euphoria.”
In 2023, he ascended to movie stardom with two big roles. He starred as Elvis in Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla” and played Felix, an envy-inducing Oxford student, in “Saltburn,” a twisted erotic thriller also directed by Fennell.
Awards and accolades have quickly followed. He picked up a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actor in “Saltburn” and has received a flurry of nominations — including a Golden Globe and Oscar nod — for his transformative portrayal of the titular monster in last year’s “Frankenstein.”
The fluidity Zuckerbrod mentions is what makes Elordi unique. While he looks the part of the high school hunk — and has played it well — his style off camera is captivating and surprising. He totes feminine handbags with panache around town and has mastered the red carpet with looks that are the perfect mix of timeless and a touch edgy. No surprise, he has three older sisters and is close with his mother.
“From the roles he chooses to how carries himself in them, Jacob comes across as unconfined by traditional expectations and conventions of male movie stars — and that means he’s capable of anything. Which is incredibly tantalizing,” Ward said.
And, it’s no surprise that leading ladies in Hollywood have taken a liking to Elordi
He dated his “Kissing Booth” co-star Joey King until late 2018. Then, in 2019, he was linked to his “Euphoria” co-star Zendaya, though he shot down romantic rumors, telling GQ Australia in 2019 “she’s like my sister.” (Paparazzi photos of the two suggested otherwise.)
In 2020, he lit up social media feeds when he dated supermodel Kaia Gerber and was seen in Malibu with her.
The following year, Page Six reported that the stunning pair had an “amicable” split, after Gerber took down photos of the “Saltburn” star from her Instagram.
He then had an on-and-off romance for years with influencer Olivia Jade Giannulli, 26, the daughter of actress Lori Loughlin and fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli.
Last week, he was spotted leaving an after party in London with Australian model Madi Fogg, 29.
But, while he may be dating women in their 20s, Zuckerbrod asserts that Elordi appeals to more mature women, and can play opposite slightly older gals such as Robbie, 35, with ease.
“He’s no longer that 18 to 25 demo, he’s a man now. He’s got the possibility of being that old time movie star. He’s very self assured. He’s got a coolness about him that is not off putting and he’s got a depth of talent,” the casting director said.
He added Elordi has a unique ability to play both timeless figures, like Heathcliff and Frankenstein, and modern men.
“If you look at the past movies made of ‘Wuthering Heights,’ it has to be somebody who has a really broad range,” he said. “He is not one thing.”
