Somewhere in the afterlife, Nate Jacobs is doing the “Rattlesnake Shake.” Euphoria‘s resident bad boy met a bad end on the penultimate episode of the Emmy winning HBO drama’s third and likely final season. But Jacob Elordi, for one, sounds almost euphoric about his alter ego’s nightmarish exit: buried alive and bitten by a rattlesnake.
“Nate is somebody who has made so many mistakes and made so many dark choices,” the Oscar nominated Frankenstein star remarked in a behind the scenes featurette that aired after “Rain or Shine,” the season’s seventh episode. “It’s cool to see it all come to what it’s come to.”
Nate ends up in what became his final resting place courtesy of the same bloody-minded criminals that transformed his nuptials with Cassie (Sydney Sweeney) into a red wedding. Still looking for the $1 million that he’s owed, Naz (Jack Topalian) orders his debtor buried roughly three to four feet under, informing Cassie that she’s got 72 hours to raise the funds required to get her estranged husband back above ground.
Ultimately, though, neither money nor a near-rescue courtesy of Alamo (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) can save Nate. During his time underground, a rattlesnake enters his coffin via the breathing vent and gives the guy a permanant love bite.
While the snake that slithered all over Elordi was very real, rest assured that Euphoria creator Sam Levinson didn’t demand absolute authenticity. The production swapped in boa constrictor equipped with a fake rattle as the last thing that Nate sees in this world.
“He was super cute and cuddly,” Elordi said of the character’s executioner. “He was [also] real sleepy. I had to kind of nudge him to get him to come up [on me].”
Additional tension was provided by the post-production team via sound and editing. “You want to highlight the claustrophobia,” supervising editor Julio Perez explained in the featurette. “You want to engage in an editorial pattern that puts the audience in that confined space with the character.”
While the production team worked to ensure that Elordi only had to spend limited time in the coffin — which was on a soundstage and not buried in the dirt — the actor made it sound like he actually looked forward to that pine box. “My shoulders were touching the sides, and I couldn’t move my arms,” he recalled. “Then they would drill the lid on and it would get dark. It was really nice, actually. It was quite peaceful in there.
“Tucked in this box with dust falling on me and a snake coming down the pipe — it’s a cool way to go,” Elordi observes approvingly.
Despite feeling some “bittersweet” emotions, the actor is at peace with exiting Euphoria before the May 31 finale. “This show is a massive part not just of my career but my life,” he said. “I’m so proud being part of this.” We’ll have to wait and see if Nate’s death impacts Elordi’s Emmy chances for his final season. The actor currently sits at No. 10 on Gold Derby’s Drama Supporting Actor leaderboard, although our expert prognosticators have him sitting slightly lower at No. 12.
Drama Supporting Actor
1.
2.
3.
Billy Crudup
The Morning Show
4.
5.
6.
7.
Carlos-Manuel Vesga
Pluribus
8.
9.
10.
Now that Euphoria is in the rearview, next up for Elordi is a starring role in Ridley Scott’s new movie, The Dog Stars. Due in theaters on Aug. 28, the dystopian drama takes place in a post-apocalyptic America where a small band of travelers — including Elordi, Josh Brolin and Margaret Qualley — search for more survivors. Hopefully, they don’t meet any snakes along the way.
