Though Jacob Elordi’s latest project, The Narrow Road to the Deep North, is a work of historical fiction, the 27-year-old actor says its message rings truer than ever today.
“It’s incredibly pertinent, we’re doomed to forget everything – it’s the curse of being human that we will forget, too. I think making cinema like this is a step towards ensuring that we don’t forget and hopefully, we don’t repeat the atrocities,” said Elordi at the series’ premiere in Sydney on Monday night.
Jacob Elordi attends the Australian premiere of The Narrow Road to the Deep North.Credit: Getty Images
The five-part World War II drama series, based on Richard Flanagan’s Booker Prize-winning novel, was filmed in New South Wales and features a predominantly Australian cast. It has been a homecoming of sorts for Elordi.
“I had about a year to just marinate in everything and to put it together, which is sort of my happy place, so it was a real joy preparing for the show,” he said.
Elordi plays Dorrigo Evans, a medical student from Tasmania in this compelling portrayal of the cruelty of war. The story charts his life across three periods: Dorrigo’s pre-war affair with his uncle’s wife, Amy Mulvaney, played by Odessa Young; his experiences as a prisoner of war building the Burma-Thailand railway; and his later years as a respected surgeon and reluctant war hero, played by Irish actor Ciarán Hinds.
Titans of the Australian screen, Simon Baker, Essie Davis and Heather Mitchell, also star in the series, which was adapted by screenwriter Shaun Grant and directed by Justin Kurzel, whose previous films include Snowtown, Macbeth, and the True History of the Kelly Gang.
Jacob Elordi greets fans at the Australian premiere of The Narrow Road to the Deep North.Credit: Scott Ehler / Active Star Productions Pty Ltd.
Elordi rose to prominence as Nate Jacobs in HBO’s hit teen drama series, Euphoria, and gained prominence for playing Elvis Presley in Sofia Coppola’s biopic, Priscilla, as well as a leading role in satirical film Saltburn.
