Jacob Elordi is not a fan of all of his roles. In fact, Elordi didn't pull any punches when talking about his approach to his work on the red carpet at the premiere of Saltburn this week.
“I just play what they give me,” he said bluntly to IndieWire. “I need a job.”
Earlier this year, Jacob Elordi made comments about The Kissing Booth, the young adult series that launched his career. He said to GQ: "I didn’t want to make those movies before I made those movies,” he said. “Those movies are ridiculous. They’re not universal. They’re an escape.”
Of course, he is not the first actor to share his honest feelings towards one of his projects. Just take Robert Pattinson, who famously trash-talked the Twilight series more than once.
Or, more recently, there was Rachel Zegler, who, like Elordi, admitted that she only starred in Shazam! Fury of the Gods because, as she told The Hollywood Reporter earlier this year, she “needed a job." She added, "I’m being so serious.”
“The reality is we’re in the middle of a pandemic and I was not working and I couldn’t get a job for the life of me, because West Side Story hadn’t come out yet,” she said. “It was really hard to book work for me.”
First of all, let's just take a second to acknowledge that all three of these actors have every right to be honest about which of their projects they personally like and which they don't. After all, at the end of the day, acting is a job and actors aren't obliged to love every project they're involved in.
But then there's the matter of the sexist reactions to these comments. Let's face it — Elordi and Zegler's comments were practically identical. Both admitted that they took on a film role because it was a job, not because they were passionate about the project itself.
However, the reactions to the comments have been vastly different.
In Elordi's case, many fans have laughed off his comments, writing, “He's so real for this,” and “This is the most relatable thing a celebrity has ever said.”
However, in reaction to Zegler's comments, the reaction was overwhelmingly negative.
One X user noted the sexist discrepancy, writing, “Rachel Zegler got torn apart for saying this EXACT thing lol! Almost down to the same phrasing. Same with the Elvis-Stitch thing. Not Jacob’s fault but seeing the difference in reaction and demonisation of only one is jarring.”
Another user wrote, “He’s quite literally saying exactly the same things Rachel zegler has been getting crucified for.”
“They hate when women are being real and transparent,” one person commented. “But the good thing is, you'll know whatever comes out of her mouth is the full truth. If she wants to say it, she will.”
It's hard to see the wildly divergent reactions to these practically identical comments as anything but sexist. Why is it “so real” for Elordi to say he needs a job, while it's “shameful” for Zegler to say the exact same thing? Make it make sense!
The reactions to these comments serve as a sobering reminder of how men and women are still held to very different standards when it comes to their approach to work (and to money). While it's perfectly acceptable, even admirable for men to hustle and take on jobs purely for the money, for women, the same attitude is seen as narcissistic and tasteless.
Not only do women often have to work harder than men to make the same amount of money, it seems that now they also have to pretend as though they don't actually care about the money they make at all. Be a girlboss, but only if you're passionate about it. Make that dough, but don't brag about it. Be successful, but make it seem like an accident. Is it just me, or is this giving major America-Ferrerra's-speech-in-Barbie flashbacks?
Perhaps with this latest discourse around Jacob Elordi and Rachel Zegler, we can all take a beat and remember that we should all stop judging women for their attitudes towards their work — after all, we rarely hold men to the same standards.
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