Jacob Elordi Explained Why He Always Carries a Purse

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Jacob Elordi, the first of GQ’s 2023 Men of the Year cover stars, is the king of many things. The actor is the King—as in Elvis Presley, the King of Rock and Roll—in Priscilla, Sofia Coppola’s new biopic about the Presleys’ domestic life. He is the king of playing dark-sided, six-foot-five teenage villains in projects such as Saltburn and Euphoria. And he is also the king of carrying around neat little handbags, which just may be a product of his Australian upbringing.

*Euphoria* made him Gen Z’s favorite heartthrob. Now, with a breakout role as Elvis, Jacob Elordi is transforming into something more: a bona fide movie star.

In his latest GQ profile, Elordi explained his taste for bags is sort of an Aussie thing. “Where I grew up, we had a culture where you wore bum bags, fanny packs,” he said. “When I leave home, I need to have a certain thing from every category with me in case I get bored—a book, a notepad, rolls of film, a camera, a pen. My mom just bought me a pocket watch that I keep to Australia time, so I always have that.”

The actor demonstrated his need for portable entertainment last year, when he appeared on GQ’s “My Essentials” video series; the contents of his Shakespeare and Company tote—which he likened to “Hermione’s bag, you know, in Harry Potter, when she pulls a tent out of it”—included, but were not limited to, a deck of cards, a vintage cigarette case, a set of watercolors, at least four books, and a Rolleiflex film camera. (The hottest thing a famous guy can do is bring a book and a film camera for his GQ “My Essentials” video—do not forget this.)

Elordi rebuffed the notion that his handbags are a “deliberate” fashion statement. As he tells it, his impressive collection of luxury It Bags—a traffic-light-yellow Louis Vuitton Speedy, a braided-leather Bottega Veneta Andiamo, a Burberry Olympia crossbody—is incidental to his newfound A-list-level fame. “I never bought a bag,” he said. “Maybe that should be something that is exposed about Hollywood. All these people think, I wish I had that lifestyle. I mean, yes, to get them for free—that’s great. What a great lifestyle. But people that have all this money aren’t spending it. You just get sent stuff. It blows my mind.”

Ultimately, when GQ’s Gabriella Paiella inquired about the actor’s propensity for petite handbags, Elordi said: “I think it’s a story for other people.” Reader, I am “other people”—and I guess so, too, are you.

Originally Appeared on GQ

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