Jacob Elordi (Euphoria, Saltburn) is opening up about filming one of the most memorable scenes in the final season of Euphoria, according to Variety. During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! with guest host and fellow Euphoria star Colman Domingo (Sing Sing, Rustin), Elordi reflected on Nate Jacobs’ brutal death and the physically demanding process of bringing the scene to life.
Variety notes that Nate spends much of season three on the run after a real estate investment goes wrong, leaving him hunted by a businessman and his associates. Over the course of the season, the character is repeatedly beaten before ultimately dying after being buried alive and bitten by what appears to be a rattlesnake.
When Domingo mentioned Nate’s death, the studio audience responded with sympathy, prompting Elordi to joke, “Finally, after eight years of all of you saying, ‘F*ck Nate, kill Nate, Nate’s a piece of sh*t’ — yeah, I read your tweets — now you’re sad. Hmm.”
Elordi also shared how difficult the sequence was to film. He said series creator Sam Levinson (Euphoria, Malcolm & Marie) put him through weeks of physically demanding scenes before filming the character’s final moments.
“I think Sam brought me back to torture me,” Elordi joked. “It was like, six weeks of me just getting beat by a seven-foot guy. I was just running the whole time.”
Earlier this year, mxdwn reported on the behind-the-scenes featurette released after the penultimate episode, where Elordi revealed HBO used a real boa constrictor fitted with a fake rattlesnake tail to film Nate’s death. At the time, he described the snake as surprisingly “cuddly” despite the tense setting. His latest comments expand on that experience, revealing he spent two full days locked inside the coffin with prosthetics, limited vision, and the live snake while filming the sequence.
Although the scene featured a deadly rattlesnake, Elordi explained the snake on set was actually a boa constrictor with a calm temperament. “He was very docile and very sleepy,” Elordi said. “He just kept curling up at my feet.”
Looking back on the HBO series, Elordi said Euphoria changed his career. He also reflected on how far the cast has come, noting that both he and Domingo have gone on to lead major film projects following the show’s success.