Jacob Elordi – The New King

Euphoria made him Gen Z's favorite heartthrob. Now, with a breakout role as Elvis in Sofia Coppola's Priscilla, Jacob Elordi is transforming before our eyes into something more: a bona fide BY movie star.

- By Gabriella Paiella. Photographs by Jack Bridgland

The girls are hyperventilating.

It happens spontaneously, as if activated by an aberration in the earth's magnetic field. A blond at nine o'clock lowers her sunglasses, cartoon wolf eyes popping out of her head. "Oh, my Goddd," she exhales, laughing as if she can't quite believe what she's staring at.

That would be all six feet, five inches of Jacob Elordi, not so much a tall drink of water as the entire office water cooler. Despite-or perhaps because of his gargantuan shades, "James Dean Death Cult" cap pulled low, and zipped-up khaki Saint Laurent jacket, the young actor is unmissable while strolling through the West Village of Manhattan this fall Saturday afternoon.

Sure enough, a pair of 20-something women slink behind him with secret agent stealth.

"Jacob? Oh, my God. Hello? Can we take a photo with you? Thank you," says the brunette.

"We're huge fans," the blond explains.

"I'm, like, shaking," the brunette adds.

A photo is taken, pleasantries are exchanged, and it's time to part ways. But not before the brunette, overcome in the moment, just has to tell him: You're beautiful!

"Thank you," Elordi says, smiling graciously, like an actual emissary from the planet of the beautiful. "You, too." His voice is deep, with a native Australian accent that's been lightly sanded off after spending a quarter of his 26 years in the States. He speaks in low tones, hushed further by the fact that the sound waves have to travel all the way down for the rest of us to hear.