Jacob Elordi Ended up Hospitalized While Filming Wuthering Heights

Jacob Elordi never planned to take his role in Wuthering Heights that far, but a joke quickly turned into a real hospital visit. The actor recently told the story during an interview with Esquire. He was talking about getting ready to play Heathcliff in the new film adaptation, directed by Emerald Fennell.

While working on the look of the character, makeup artist Siân Miller was designing the whip scars that would cover his back. She joked that if Daniel Day-Lewis were playing the role, he would probably show up with real scars instead of fake ones.

Elordi joked right back. He told her he would go home over the weekend and hurt himself just to stay true to the role. It was meant to be funny. Instead, it became oddly close to the truth.

At the time, Elordi was also filming Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein. He explained to Esquire that he was tired of constantly scrubbing heavy makeup off his body. When he moved on to Wuthering Heights, he promised himself he would stay extra clean.

One night at his rental home, he stepped into a steam shower and started scrubbing his feet. While leaning back, he pressed into a brass steam knob that was extremely hot. The contact burned his back badly. He ended up with second-degree burns and had to go to the hospital.

By Monday morning, the Daniel Day-Lewis joke was no longer funny. Director Emerald Fennell later spoke about the moment. She remembered getting a text during the first week of filming saying Jacob was in the hospital. Once she knew he was okay, she joked with him and asked whether the injury counted as real Method acting.

Daniel Day-Lewis has long been linked to this intense style of acting. While promoting his recent film Anemone, he pushed back on how people talk about it. He said the Method is not a cult or a strange science. He described it as a way to free yourself so real reactions can happen naturally on set.

As of February, Elordi is having one of the biggest moments of his career. He won the Critics’ Choice Award for Best Supporting Actor in January for playing the Creature in Frankenstein. He is also considered a strong Oscar contender for the same role.

Wuthering Heights is set to hit theaters on February 13. The film stars Elordi opposite Margot Robbie, and Fennell has described the movie as dark and electric. He is also set to appear later this year in Ridley Scott’s science fiction film The Dog Stars, alongside Margaret Qualley and Benedict Wong.

What started as a joke became a painful lesson, and a strange story Elordi will probably be telling for years. Whether it helped his performance or not is still up for debate.

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