Euphoria's Jacob Elordi Admits He Struggles With Filming These Scenes

It can be hard sometimes for fans to separate the actor from the iconic character they play on TV. Luckily for actor Jacob Elordi, who plays the villainous Nate Jacobs on HBO's "Euphoria," no one hates him in real life as much as online viewers hate Nate, or he'd be followed everywhere by angry mobs.

Where Nate is a dour football jock often seen in classic hoodies and jerseys, Elordi is Australian, experiments with fashion, and apparently likes his parents (via South China Morning Post). And unlike Nate, as far as we know Elordi hasn't orchestrated a series of manipulative, vindictive schemes involving his father, multiple high school classmates, and a drug dealer.

However, the young actor has emphasized in interviews that even though he would "love to give [Nate] a clip behind the ears," he feels sorry for him considering his struggles with his sexuality and his father Cal's (Eric Danes) secrets (via Yardbarker).

Nate has had it especially rough in Season 2 of "Euphoria," as he gets badly beaten by dealer Fez (Angus McCloud) in the premiere episode, and then tries to navigate an ill-advised affair with his ex-girlfriend Maddie's (Alexa Demie) best friend, Cassie (Sydney Sweeney). But Elordi had no problem shooting these scenes — but he did have trouble with others. 

"Euphoria" is a bit different from other teen shows because it has a good deal of sexual content. This is why the series has an intimacy coordinator on set to help the actors with explicit scenes and even with kissing (via Elle).

Jacob Elordi acknowledged having a hard time in Season 1 being natural performing when a coordinator was present. "I kind of struggled with it because I thought it killed the spontaneity of the scene and it was a little bit hands-on, but working with her this season was such a treat. It was delightful, she was so helpful and so caring."

Intimacy coordinators became more common in film and television as industry standards changed in the wake of the #MeTo movement. "Euphoria" parent network HBO officially adopted hiring intimacy coordinators as policy in 2018, shortly before the series premiered (via Slate). Elordi, for one, found the experience extremely positive once he got used to the process. "She was there for the actor and it made the scenes just like playing any regular moment — she saved the day," he told Elle.