Cliff Notes – Oscar Isaac reveals Frankenstein director’s explicit directions during filming
- Oscar Isaac shared that Guillermo del Toro used cheeky humour in Spanish to convey Victor Frankenstein’s emotions, including a memorable metaphor about a mouse and a lion.
- Jacob Elordi, portraying the Creature, impressed Isaac with his resilience and creativity, taking photos in full monster costume despite the physical constraints.
- Isaac addressed the buzz around Elordi’s portrayal of a “hot Frankenstein,” emphasising the importance of audience curiosity and the film’s aim to exceed expectations.
Oscar Isaac reveals Frankenstein director’s explicit directions during filming
Oscar Isaac has opened up about Guillermo del Toro’s directions while on set of Frankenstein (Picture: AP)
Oscar Isaac has revealed Guillermo del Toro’s explicit instructions while directing the actor in the upcoming film, Frankenstein.
The Dune actor, 46, is set to star as Dr Victor Frankenstein in the latest film adaptation of Mary Shelley’s gothic horror novel.
The star is joined by Jacob Elordi as his monster, plus actors Mia Goth, Christoph Waltz, and Ralph Ineson.
While chatting about his latest film with Backstage, the actor revealed that Toro directed him with his cheeky humour in Spanish.
Isaac joked that the comments were ‘untranslatable’, but gave an example of the Pan’s Labyrinth filmmaker trying to explain Victor’s emotions during his early experimentations.
‘I can’t even say the actual punchline; it’s so stupid,’ said Isaac before explaining del Toro was saying: ‘You’re the mouse that’s really excited about f*****g the lion for the first time.’
Isaac recalled thinking to himself: ‘I can play that, I’m really excited. I’m scared, but I’m excited.’
Guillermo del Toro (L) was very hands on on set(Picture: AP)
The director has won many academy awards (Picture: Erik Pendzich/Shutterstock)
In the interview, Isaac also complimented 28-year-old Elordi, who appears in the film in layers of thick prostheses.
‘It’s really intense. It’s very isolating. I felt for him and was incredibly impressed with how I never heard him complain once.’
He recalled that Elordi took snapshots on his camera during filming – while in full monster costume.
‘If you can imagine: the creature of Frankenstein, just over in the corner taking some cool shots on his cool analogue film camera,’ he said.
‘So within all those [physical] constraints, he was also very loose and available. I certainly was not that put together as a human being when I was his age.’
Jacob Elordi plays The Creature in Frankenstein (Picture: AP)
Elordi takes on a brooding Byronic anti-hero as the monster, as he tries to find his place in the world, with many dubbing him a rather sexy version of the classic character. The BBC’s Nicholas Barber compared Elordi’s ‘hunky’ Frankenstein’s monster to ‘a vegetarian Dracula’.
At the Frankenstein red carpet as part of the BFI London Film Festival, Metro asked Isaac for his reaction to the ‘hot Frankenstein’ conversation so far.
‘Well, he’s the creature, I’m Frankenstein,’ Isaac first commented, pointing out the (incorrect) shorthand people often use when they mean to refer to the inventor’s creation instead.
He added: What people think of the interpretation – well that’s the point of it, right? You get people curious about it and so the idea is that hopefully they come in and their expectations are exceeded.’
The film has already received rave reviews, with Tori Brazier saying for Metro: ‘It’s just the juicy gothic saga I hoped for, mightily powered by the dynamite duo of Oscar Isaac and Jacob Elordi.’
Frankenstein was released in select cinemas on October 17,and will be streaming exclusively on Netflix from November 7.
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