What Ben Affleck Told Jacob Elordi About Dealing With Public Scrutiny

Life for Jacob Elordi isn’t always euphoric—especially when it comes to navigating the realities of fame.

The actor was catapulted into stardom—and life in the public eye—after appearing as Noah Flynn in the 2018 Netflix movie The Kissing Booth. But life in the spotlight came with its own set of challenges, especially public scrutiny around his personal life.

In an interview for GQ‘s first-ever Hype issue, Jacob, who reprised his Kissing Booth role in its two sequels and landed a role on the HBO hit series Euphoria, said he at one point even wanted to quit acting, “which might sound quite sensitive and dramatic, but I am sensitive and I’m very dramatic. I hated being a character to the public. I felt so far from myself.” 

The paparazzi didn’t make things any easier, and Jacob still remembers the first time he was photographed with someone else.

“It felt like, all of a sudden, I was a poster,” he said. “Like I was a billboard. It felt like it was for sale. Then my brain went through the f–king wringer. Like, I wasn’t sure if I was genuine. It really skews your view…. It creates a very paranoid way of living.”