Saltburn star Jacob Elordi just offered a blunt response regarding the film’s controversial and disgusting bathtub scene.
The sequence in question sees Barry Keoghan’s Oliver Quick slurping up dirty, semen-filled bath water out of the bottom of a tub after Elordi's Felix has taken a dip. The gross-out scene quickly went viral and became one of the film's most highly-discussed scenes - even for those who haven’t seen it.
There are plenty of other depraved moments, such as the main character gleefully performing oral sex on a woman while on her period and that same character having sex with a freshly dug graveyard mound.
Needless to say, the entire movie is a wild ride.
Jacob Elordi Speaks on Bathtub Scene Reception
In an interview with Stream Wars, Saltburn star Jacob Elordi, who played Felix Catton in the Amazon Prime Video movie, bluntly responded to the outcry over Barry Keoghan’s big bathtub scene.
When asked if he’s heard any notable reactions from people who have seen the film, Elordi noted he “[hasn't] really heard too many” because he tends to “try to hide away from it:”
"I haven't really heard too many because I try to hide away from it. But I went to a screening of the picture in Brisbane when it sort of first played and it was unbelievable because everybody was engaged and sort of gasping at the screen and yelling at the screen and everything like that. And I haven't been in a movie like that in a really really long time. So, I haven't heard any of the really—I mean, I hope there's no terrible stories, but yeah."
As for the actor’s reaction to the scene itself when he first read it, he admitted that he “was just really excited:”
"I was just really excited when I read that scene, because... you don't really see things like that in sort of mainstream movies... a lot of the time, so it's just great that [Emerald Fennell] was allowed to kind of push those boundaries and expose people like that."
Elordi went on to admit that hearing the reception to the movie, and its viral moments, “probably just made [him] love the movie more:”
"I think it's probably just made me love the movie more, seeing the kind of places that it can go. And, you know, running into people that have seen it and things like that's definitely a change, but I think it just makes me love it more."
Meanwhile, co-star Barry Keoghan had a slightly more adverse reaction, admitting to Variety that "yeah, it's disgusting."
However, Keoghan did note the thematic relevance of the scene in the grand scheme of the film, discussing how it is reflective of Oliver's obsession with Felix:
"When you get into it, it’s a different level of obsession this boy has. That’s why I made the choice to rub my face along the plug hole and not slurp it straight away — because I’m trying to take it to a new level. Oliver doesn’t even know what he’s doing; he’s confused. He’s thinking, “I just want to be part of it. I want it to be on me. I want it to be me.” I was discovering that with the character, as well."
Jacob Elordi is Unphased By Saltburn
Despite Jacob Elordi being seemingly unphased by the disgusting scenes in his latest film, those moments are certainly making their mark on audiences. The depraved moments are doing exactly what the filmmakers intended: causing a conversation.
While some were turned off—in multiple ways—by what Barry Keoghan’s Oliver Quick did on screen, the reception is generally positive. Saltburn currently has a 71% critic approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Many have found issues with the big twist of the movie, where it's revealed Oliver was gunning for the Catton wealth and Saltburn estate the entire time and that disposing of every member of the family was always in the cards. Some feel the development doesn't really match everything that came before it—aka, a deep exploration of desire and obsession.
Saltburn is now streaming on Prime Video.
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