The actor has seen the Nate memes and says he can ‘feel the humor in the hate.’
Warning: This article contains spoilers from theEuphoriaseason 1 finale, “And Salt the Earth Behind You.”
One of 2019’s most terrifying villains is undoubtedlyEuphoria’s Nate Jacobs (Jacob Elordi).
Credit: Eddy Chen/HBO
The high school bully frightens with both his eerily cool demeanor and then bouts of violent rage.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Let’s talk about that breakdown/fight scene you have with your father.
Did you get hurt during that?
JACOB ELORDI:Yeah.
Yeah, a lot actually.
So Eric f—ing smashed me.
I got a concussion.
I ended up throwing up after work.
It was really, really gnarly, but it came at the end of my shooting period.
I was just wrapping the show around that time.
So it was almost like this massive letting go of everything over the eight months that we filmed.
I have amagazine cover forWonderlandand you’ve got the option to see the cuts on my arm.
But it was pretty cool in hindsight.
It still feels like Nate’s motivations and identity are unclear.
Do you know what’s going on with him or is it also a mystery to you?
you’re free to kind of see it in episode 3.
You don’t need to do that."
So I never let myself have like a clear, definitive answer.
I think that really helps.
He’s an intense, dark teen.
How did you prepare to play someone so toxic?
I was an intense, dark, tortured teen [laughs].
I had a lot of time to prepare.
There’s really no other way to explain it.
I just kind of just let myself go and basicallyimmersed myself in the worldfor the eight months of filming.
I didn’t really do anything else.
And I kinda just tried to live in it as much as possible, you know?
Nate is such a terrifying villain.
What’s been the fan reaction?
It’s been hilarious.
There are somefunny people online.
The most wonderful thing, though, is I can feel the humor in the hate.
But I haven’t had anything.
I’ve really only been embraced.
But I suppose there’s humor in that, I hope [laughs].
Would you want Nate to have redemption inseason 2?
Or keep down this path?
Whatever it is, I want him to have a life and I want it to be honest.
I truly don’t have any qualms about which direction it goes.
And I’m not sure what that looks like.
Has Sam told you anything about season 2?
I know nothing about season 2.
When we were making season 1, I knew nothing about season 1.
We kind of just go for it.
I mean, not that he’s holding back information or anything.
Wejustfinished season 1, so I’m good.
Do you know where that other brother is?
We haven’t seen him.
I don’t know where he went.
I have no idea.
I had the same questions when I got to work.
I was like, “You do realize that there’s different child in this picture?”
And everyone just didn’t really say anything.
I don’t know.
Some people also think Rue (Zendaya) is narrating this from the afterlife and that she’s dead.
That is the first I’m hearing it.
My feeling is that that’s pretty morbid.
That’s a different show isn’t it?
Do you think that’s true?
Is there something this season you’re particularly proud of?
I’m quite proud of the entire show.
I knew I could do one but my fear was that I would just forget and be stupid.
So it was a nice confirmation after the breakdown scene.
