‘Watching Saltburn with Jacob Elordi and his parents was as awkward as you’d expect’
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Jacob Elordi might have sent viewers into a frenzy watching his performance in the hit film Saltburn, but spare a thought for his high school teacher, who watched it for the first time with the actor and his parents.
The Australian actor, 28, rose to fame starring in Netflix’s The Kissing Booth films, the first of which was released in 2018.
The following year, he began appearing in the dark teen drama Euphoria, going on to star in blockbuster films including Elvis, Saltburn and Frankenstein, which, in recent weeks, has seen him nominated for an Oscar and Bafta.
Not bad for a boy from Brisbane to achieve in just a decade, after first moving to Los Angeles aged 19.
Watching throughout that time has been Alison Kilgour, the head of arts at St Joseph’s Nudgee College, where Jacob attended for his final two years of school.
Speaking to Metro, Alison detailed how there’s been a ‘buzz’ around the school watching the former student’s career continue to soar.
‘It’s a bit surreal to be honest,’ she said. ‘I’ve been watching and reading, and I am so proud of him. I am stoked he’s got to the level he has. What astounds me the most is he walked out of our gates 10 years ago last year and to get to where he has just blows my mind.’
A close friend of Jacob’s mum Melissa, who also worked at the school’s canteen, Alison then shared how she’s been able to watch some of the actor’s biggest films on screen with the family.
That has included Emerald Fennell’s black comedy Saltburn, which got plenty of attention for an infamous bathtub scene, which saw Barry Keoghan’s character consume the bathwater of Jacob’s on-screen persona after he finished bathing.
Recalling sitting in the cinema with the actor and his parents, Alison said they all did their best not to giggle through the awkwardness that ensued.
‘That was pretty funny as I went with the family and he was here and was sitting behind me. There was this laughter that happened and it took me right back to the classroom when I was teaching him,’ she laughed.
A few months ago, Alison also saw Frankenstein with Jacob’s parents and spoke to him on FaceTime right after to congratulate him on the film, which saw him nominated for an Academy Award for best supporting actor earlier in January.
When Jacob first called his mum to reveal he had been cast in Guillermo del Toro’s Gothic science fiction, Alison found out minutes later. ‘I was in the canteen getting a coffee and she got off the phone with him and was like “Alison, Alison!” and called me over and said he got the part. I was so excited and said that I thought he was going to do an incredible job and that I couldn’t wait to see what he did with the Monster.’
Although Jacob has been travelling around the world for work in recent years – including on the soon-to-be-released Wuthering Heights alongside fellow Queenslander Margot Robbie – Alison revealed how he also came back to his high school a few years ago to help run workshops with the drama students.
‘It was around the time of The Kissing Booth, and he got to escape to Australia a bit more, so I reached out. He was beautiful and would come and work with these boys who idolised him,’ she shared publicly for the first time.
‘That was in 2021 that he came and did that. It was great – he came in a few times while he was here at home and it was so lovely to see him share his passion with this group of boys who were hanging onto every word he said, and he had so much time for that.’
Throughout his time in high school, Alison said Jacob was ‘devoted to his acting’, taking part in several drama programmes outside of school as well, before making showreels and sending them to agents and casting directors in the United States.
‘I don’t think anything was ever going to stop him, to be honest, because he just had this undying passion to perform and you could see it on stage, even in the stuff we were doing in the classroom,’ she said.
‘The minute he walked into the classroom, you could see a passion to perform. No matter what you put in front of him, he tackled it and persisted and there was this undying passion for him.
‘Jacob kept taking it to the next level. One thing I remember was that he always had a journal and he would whip that out and a little pencil and make notes. I always felt he was beyond his years and remember having vivid conversations. It was like he was an old soul to be honest.’
Since watching their school’s former alumni become a household name around the world, Alison said many of the other students have also now been encouraged to take up drama classes.
‘The boys ask lots of questions like “how did Jacob do this, Miss?” or “how did he do that?”. I think it [his success] shows that no matter what your dying passion is, if you are that committed and dedicated, and you don’t give up, you can achieve what you want to achieve,’ she shared.
Since rising to fame, Jacob has regularly spoken in interviews about his close relationship with his family, which also includes dad John and three older sisters. He once said of his mum: ‘She is the most present, loving, just beautiful, angelic human being on this planet.’
Last week, he also revealed he would be taking his mum as his date to the Oscars after ‘promising to take her’ to the ceremony when he was 15 and dreaming of a career in Hollywood.
Speaking about the close-knit family, Alison said Jacob’s parents ‘completely back him’. ‘The family relationship is so important to him, and he has the most incredible family around him. That ongoing support, particularly from his parents and sister, has kept him grounded and focused,’ she said. ‘He calls his mum all the time,’ she added.
As the countdown to the Oscars gets underway, Alison said how exciting it would be to see her former student take home the win.
‘Oh, I really hope he does. It would be amazing, but at the end of the day, he’s been nominated for an Oscar at 28, and I am so proud of him for that. That is incredible.’
Frankenstein is streaming on Netflix, while Wuthering Heights is released in UK cinemas on February 11.
The Oscars takes place on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood, simulcast live across both ITV1 and ITVX in the UK. The Baftas will take place at London’s Royal Festival Hall on Sunday, February 22.
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