Why Jacob Elordi’s Monster Looks So Different From Classic Frankenstein 

Jacob Elordi’s monster in Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein has a very different appearance from the classic monster that film fans have come to recognize. The monster’s designer for the film, Mike Hill, recently shared how the creative team approached Guillermo del Toro’s latest adaptation. 

Why Jacob Elordi’s Frankenstein has a very different monster look

Creature designer and prosthetics department head Mike Hill recently spoke about the creative decisions behind shaping Jacob Elordi’s monster in Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, explaining how the director’s vision required an entirely new approach. Speaking about the project, the acclaimed special-effects artist shared the details about how the team approached the character with a clear intention. He explained that, with the character having been referenced in more than 400 films, it was “extremely difficult to come up with a whole new design.” (via Comic Book Resources)

Hill elaborated, “What we really wanted was to make it look like he was vintage, and feel like the creature did step out of the 1800s.” He added, “We wanted geometric shapes and stuff. I came up with this pattern, so the audience immediately, if you saw him, you’d say, ‘Wow, somebody made this guy. Somebody designed this. Someone made a plan. This is not an accident that’s been repaired.’”

According to Hill, the design also evolved alongside del Toro’s script, emphasizing that del Toro did not arrive with a visual blueprint. He added, “Although Guillermo obviously based it upon Mary Shelley’s wonderful novel, it’s still Guillermo’s version. So I had to absorb that and see what he wanted to do.” 

The appearance of Elordi’s monster shifts throughout the film, reflecting different stages of development, gradually maturing to adolescence and then into adulthood. Hill explained, “As an adult, he could then take on the air of revenge, because as an adult, you can then say, ‘You know what? No, I was a child, and you did this. This is not me anymore.’”

The artist concluded, “So that’s what helped my design of the creature, is how he would advance with Guillermo’s script of these layers of an adolescent becoming an adult.”

Source: Comingsoon.net