Inside Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein: Elordi’s Casting and Hollywood’s Toughest Critics

Guillermo del Toro’s long-awaited take on Mary Shelley’s classic, Frankenstein, didn’t reach Netflix screens without first enduring a gauntlet of feedback from some of the most respected names in the film industry. The Oscar- winning director, known for his visionary style in movies like Hellboy, assembled a powerhouse cast for this gothic adaptation, with Oscar Isaac portraying Victor Frankenstein and Jacob Elordi stepping in as the Creature. The supporting lineup includes Christoph Waltz, Mia Goth, David Bradley, and Charles Dance.

Before the film was finalized, del Toro made sure it passed muster with a select group of his closest and most talented peers.

“What I do – because we don't test the movies – I show it to the 14, 16 most brilliant friends I know, and I'm blessed with good friendships,”

he shared at the Palm Springs International Film Festival.

“Alfonso Cuarón, Alejandro Iñárritu, Jim Cameron, Rian Johnson, Steven [Spielberg]. A lot of people see the movie, they tell me what they think, and we have the agreement to be brutal.”

One of the most significant changes came after James Cameron weighed in.

“Jim came in and he said, 'Look, there's this section' – which is not in the movie anymore – 'This is beautiful, but you gotta take it out.' And it was about seven minutes. When someone gives me a note that is in that circle, I do it. I don't argue.”

Thanks to Cameron’s input, the film lost a seven-minute segment, trimming the runtime to two hours and thirty minutes. Del Toro didn’t reveal what was cut, leaving fans to wonder about the missing scene.

Jacob Elordi’s Journey to Becoming the Creature

When Frankenstein debuted on Netflix last November, del Toro opened up about the casting process that led to Jacob Elordi taking on the role of the Creature after Andrew Garfield had to step away.

“When I spoke with Jacob the first time on Zoom, I texted Oscar, timestamped, and I said, 'I found him. We found him.' You can talk about range, you can talk about this, but it's essence. If the character's essence is perfect for the actor, or the actor's to the character, you don't have to think again. You just tailor it to them, and watch them grow. They can't fail.”

Elordi, an Australian actor, described how he developed the Creature’s unique voice throughout filming.

“While we were filming, [del Toro would] come back from the edit the next morning, and he'd say to me, 'There's a gravel that needs to be there,' because I was developing with the Creature as the Creature developed in the film,”

Elordi explained.

“I was lucky enough to, for the most part, shoot it in something of a chronological order. So I got to develop the voice as I played it live. But I had a lot of conversations with [pointing at Isaac] early on, and there was this kind of throat chant thing that we would practice and work on, but it was something that evolved.”

He went on to say,

“A Tibetan throat chant. But it was something that evolved, depending on the physicality of the scene or how he's being treated in the moment affects the way his voice works. And there's also a sensitivity that you want to find because you don't just want to growl and do something that doesn't mean anything. But I think the voice really comes from every incision, every memory, every different bit of flesh, every life lived — you have to build something that sounds like that.”

Key Details and Cast

Frankenstein is set for release on October 17, 2025, with a runtime of 149 minutes. Guillermo del Toro directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Mary Shelley, while J. Miles Dale, del Toro, and Scott Stuber produced the film.

The cast features Oscar Isaac as Dr. Victor Frankenstein and Jacob Elordi as the Monster, with Christoph Waltz, Mia Goth, David Bradley, and Charles Dance in supporting roles.