If you’ve seen the trailers for the new WWII drama The Narrow Road to the Deep North, you probably did a double-take. That’s not the towering, broad-shouldered Nate Jacobs from Euphoria or the polished Elvis from Priscilla. It’s a leaner, almost haunting version of the Australian actor. People have been buzzing about the Jacob Elordi weight loss for months, and honestly, the reality of it is way more intense than just skipping a few burgers.
He didn't just lose weight. He basically reshaped his entire presence for a role that demanded he look like a prisoner of war.
Why Jacob Elordi Lost Weight (The Brutal Reality)
Hollywood loves a transformation, but Elordi’s journey for the Prime Video miniseries The Narrow Road to the Deep North was about something deeper than just aesthetics. He plays Dorrigo Evans, an army surgeon in a Japanese POW camp. You can't exactly fake the look of starvation with CGI—well, you can, but Elordi isn't that kind of actor.
He lost roughly 20 pounds in a staggering six-week window. For a guy who stands 6’5”, that kind of drop is visible in every bone of his face.
"It wasn't complete torture," he actually said at a press conference during the Berlin Film Festival. That sounds wild, right? But he explained that because the whole cast—which he calls "the lads"—was going through it together, it became this weirdly bonding, primal experience. They weren't just acting; they were all collectively hungry and exhausted.
The Mental Toll of the Transformation
Losing weight that fast does things to your head. Elordi has been pretty open about the "anguish" he felt. He’d wake up at 3 a.m. in actual physical pain. His brain felt "all over the place."
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Most of us get "hangry" if we miss lunch. Now imagine that for weeks while filming emotional, high-stakes scenes in the Australian heat.
The interesting part? This struggle actually became a "blessing" for his next big project. Immediately after wrapping the WWII series, he jumped into playing the Creature in Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein. The physical pain and mental fog he carried over from the weight loss helped him tap into the suffering of the monster.
"I just realized that it was a blessing with Frankenstein coming up, because I could articulate these feelings, this suffering," Elordi told the L.A. Times.
How the Jacob Elordi Weight Loss Happened: The Diet and Routine
So, how does a guy who normally eats 3,500 to 4,000 calories a day to maintain a 6'5" frame suddenly drop 20 pounds? It wasn't magic. It was a calculated, albeit grueling, shift in his entire lifestyle.
His usual Euphoria prep involves heavy compound lifts—bench presses, squats, and pull-ups—to build that "leading man" muscle. For the POW role, that had to go.
A Shift in Nutrition
While he’s naturally lean (what fitness experts call an ectomorph), keeping muscle on while dropping fat is tricky. He reportedly used a few specific tactics:
- Strict Portion Control: He moved away from his "big dinner" style of eating to very small, nutrient-dense meals.
- The "Fast and Light" Method: He adopted a flexible version of intermittent fasting, often delaying his first meal until he was actually hungry, then sticking to something like sushi or light protein and greens for lunch.
- Hydration over Snacking: Water became his best friend to keep his skin clear and his metabolism from totally crashing.
- Cutting the "Extras": Processed snacks and alcohol were out. Everything had to serve a purpose.
The Workout Pivot
You can't do heavy deadlifts on a massive calorie deficit without passing out. For this role, the focus shifted from "building" to "sculpting."
He incorporated more cardio and high-rep bodyweight exercises. Think of it as stripping away the "Hollywood bulk" to reveal the sinewy, athletic frame underneath. It wasn't about being "thin" in a frail way—he still had to look like a soldier who was once strong but was now being broken down by circumstance.
The Iggy Pop Connection in Frankenstein
Interestingly, even as he moved from the WWII drama into Frankenstein, he didn't immediately go back to his "bulky" self. Guillermo del Toro actually sent him a photo of a young, shirtless Iggy Pop from the 70s as a reference for the Creature.
If you know Iggy Pop, you know that look: wiry, "strung out," and incredibly lean.
The Jacob Elordi weight loss ended up defining a whole year of his career. It gave him that "jagged" and "sinewy" look that made his version of the Frankenstein monster so unsettling and beautiful at the same time. He had to wear 42 different prosthetic pieces for that role, and having a leaner frame made the makeup application and the "resurrected" look much more believable.
What Most People Get Wrong About Celebrity Weight Loss
It’s easy to look at a headline and think, "I should try the Jacob Elordi diet."
Don't.
These transformations are done under the supervision of professional trainers, nutritionists, and sometimes even medical staff. Elordi himself has mentioned that it left him in pain. It’s a professional requirement, not a lifestyle recommendation.
The most impressive part of his journey isn't the number on the scale. It's the discipline. Whether he's eating 4,000 calories to look like a star athlete or 1,500 to look like a prisoner, he treats his body like a tool for his craft.
Insights for the Rest of Us
You probably aren't preparing to play a WWII soldier or a resurrected monster, but there are a few human takeaways from Elordi’s approach to fitness:
- Mindset over perfection: He doesn't let setbacks derail him. He focuses on progress and the goal at hand.
- Sustainability (Usually): Outside of these extreme roles, he sticks to a balanced "6-day split" workout and a high-protein diet that he actually enjoys.
- Listen to your body: Even when he was losing weight, he was paying attention to hunger cues and mental clarity.
- Support systems matter: He credited "the lads" on set for helping him get through the hardest days. Doing things alone is twice as hard.
Jacob Elordi has proven he’s not just a "pretty face" or a "plank of wood" (as one mean reviewer once called him). He’s an actor willing to put his body on the line to tell a story. Whether he's bulked up or leaned down, it's all in service of the character.
If you're looking to make a change in your own life, start with the basics he uses during his "normal" phases: consistent movement, plenty of protein, and a focus on how you feel rather than just how you look in the mirror.