Jacob Elordi has built one of the most impressive resumes in Hollywood over the past few years. Between Euphoria, Saltburn, Wuthering Heights and an Oscar-nominated turn in Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein, the 28-year-old Australian actor is everywhere right now. Despite his rising status, the most important presence in his life remains off-screen: his Golden Retriever, Layla.
Jacob and his dog, Layla, have a bond that he can’t help gushing about. While listing his "essentials" in a recent interview, Jacob described his Golden Retriever as his closest “confidant” and "rock."
"She's my best friend. She's my confidant. I run lines with her. She's so special to me," he said. And he wasn't exaggerating about the line-reading part. Layla is apparently a regular scene partner during rehearsals. Jacob also insists that Layla smiles, claiming she "literally has dimples." Scientific accuracy aside, the comment highlights just how central Layla is to the actor's life.
When Jacob was cast as the creature in Frankenstein, he turned to an unlikely source for inspiration: Layla. Her physicality directly shaped his performance. "Like a child, she doesn't speak, obviously, so everything that she does physically is to sort of get what she needs or to show how she feels," he explained. "So she's very, sort of, creature-like in the way that she operates in the world. I suppose she's also incredibly sensitive. So there was a lot of that in her — I see the whole world in my dog's eyes."
But the most significant moment came in a Toronto hotel room just before filming began. While Jacob was looking at Layla and wondering how he was going to approach his role, she walked up to him. They touched noses and exchanged a small jolt of static electricity. "I knew then I was okay," he recalled. "It was like she gave me life.”
Layla didn't just inspire the performance from afar — she was right there on the Frankenstein set. In a behind-the-scenes photo, Jacob is seen in full monster makeup cuddling with Layla between takes. "She was so sick of me at that point. She was like, 'I'm so tired of this and you look weird.’"
Reflecting on their bond during the film’s premiere, Jacob shared that he spends the vast majority of his time with Layla. "She's a great teacher in so many ways. Just in her innocence, how direct she is," he noted. "My dog is my hero."
For an actor whose career is soaring, it says a lot that the thing he's most passionate about talking about is his Golden Retriever.
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