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Jacob Elordi is sharing how he unintentionally went "method" while filming Wuthering Heights — so much so that he ended up in the hospital.
In a new interview with Esquire, Elordi and Wuthering Heights director Emerald Fennell recalled the moment early in filming the adaptation of the classic Emily Brontë novel where a mishap at home led to the actor needing medical attention. Elordi explained that he and makeup artist Siân Miller were discussing the scars on his character Heathcliff's back and joked how "method" actors like Daniel Day-Lewis wouldn't need makeup and prosthetics for the role, per E! News.
"She challenged me: 'If Daniel Day-Lewis was playing Heathcliff, he would have come in with scars," he recalled. "I said, 'Well I'm going to go away and maim myself on the weekend to prove to you that I'm Heathcliff!'"
Little did Elordi realize that you should always be careful what you (jokingly) wish for.
"That night I went home, and the house I was staying in had a steam shower: a brass knob that steam came from out of the wall," he said. "I was sitting on the floor of the shower... As Heathcliff, I was covered in mange and dirt and I thought, 'I'm not going to do that again, I'm going to clean my feet properly every night and come in to work fresh the next day.'"
The Euphoria star continued, "So I went to clean my feet, and I leant back and my back seared into the steam knob. And I stood up screaming; it tore up my back. When I went to work on Monday I had a second-degree burn."
Fennell recalled being worried for her lead actor after getting a text from producer Josey McNamara saying Elordi was "in hospital."
"Obviously, I thought, 'Oh my God, he's had a car accident,' and then he was like, 'He's burnt his back int he shower,'" she said.
Wuthering Heights, starring Elordi and Margot Robbie, hits theaters February 13.