Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein took Netflix by storm, with fans applauding Jacob Elordi’s portrayal of the famed Mary Shelley character, The Creature. When it came to the dazzling costuming and Elordi’s pieced-together monster, he admits an often-shirtless Iggy Pop was his inspiration.
Elordi’s take on The Creature had fans gasping in awe over its tall stature, long arms, jagged lines, and overall sinewy physique. In an interview with W Magazine, the actor admits that Del Toro sent him a photo of Iggy Pop as a look reference.
“The first reference that Guillermo del Toro sent me was a picture of Iggy Pop. It’s a classic photo—he looks a bit strung out. I had just played a POW in Justin Kurzel’s show The Narrow Roadto the Deep North. I, luckily, in the mirror, looked similar to Iggy Pop,” he said.
The “classic photo” in question is one that fans have likely seen, while there are many to choose from. As part of the punk rock craze of the ’70s, Iggy Pop became well known for never wearing a shirt during his performances.
During his early years, Iggy Pop had a slender, lean frame that often showed off his stripped-down, wiry physique, which became synonymous with his feral punk-rock persona. The now 78-year-old rocker has stuck to his habit and still performs on stage shirtless, despite fans believing his body has clearly shown signs of aging.
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Based on Elordi’s comment, it might be likely that Del Toro sent the actor a photo of Iggy Pop during the early years of his career. Standing at six-foot-six and being a prior athlete, Elordi has been known for his lean and muscular build with long arms and legs to match.
For the Netflix movie, Elordi wore 42 prosthetic appliances to bring the Creature to life. Del Toro told Netflix Tudum he wanted the character to represent a “resurrected soldier out of a mass grave… the makeup needed to reflect that but also have a beauty.”