Jacob Elordi says his teen promise to his mom led to an Oscars moment

Teen promise becomes Oscars date

Jacob Elordi once told his mom, Melissa, that if he ever made it to the Oscars, she would be the person on his arm. He said he made this promise when he was 15 and dreaming about being an actor.

Now, at 28, he has been nominated for Best Supporting Actor and plans to keep that promise by taking her. His night at the 98th Academy Awards will honor the commitment he described during his appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Sharing the secret on Kimmel

When Jacob sat down with Jimmy Kimmel on the January 27 episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, he shared who would join him at Hollywood’s biggest night. He said, “I’m going to take mom,” and explained that he made that promise when he was a teenager.

He told Jimmy he had promised his mom that she would be his Oscars date and added, “I have to honor that.” The Australian actor said bringing her now is directly tied to that promise.

Mom breaks the big news

Jacob said his mom “fully believed in me the whole time,” even before the Oscars felt close. He shared that she was the first person to tell him he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor.

Too nervous to wait for news, he chose to sleep, not sit by the phone. He remembered hearing her phone ring at 5 a.m., then her little feet on the stairs and her face telling him he was nominated, a moment he called “so beautiful.”

Dad’s midnight celebration call

Jacob also described how his dad marked the moment from Australia when the nominations came out. He said his father knew exactly when the Academy Awards would announce the list and quietly got ready to celebrate.

According to Jacob, his dad stayed up until about midnight in Australia, waiting for the news. When he heard his son’s name, he called, and they celebrated together over the phone, turning the announcement into a special long-distance moment.

How his parents saw his dream

Jacob has talked about how his parents viewed his acting dreams in different ways. He said his mom, Melissa, always believed he would make it big, while his dad urged him to have a backup plan in case acting did not work out.

The Euphoria actor has not forgotten that early support from his mom as he heads into Oscar night. He is rewarding her faith by making sure she is his plus-one for the ceremony where he is nominated.

Why this nomination matters

Jacob admitted that becoming an Oscar-nominated actor was something he had really dreamed about for years. He joked that people often say awards do not matter because art is subjective, but he was honest that this recognition means a lot to him.

He shared that the dream felt especially strong because of fellow Australian actor Heath Ledger. Jacob said Ledger showed him that reaching this level in Hollywood was possible, and that thought stayed with him as he kept working.

Honoring Heath Ledger’s legacy

Jacob also shared a personal connection he feels to Heath Ledger when talking about his nomination. He remembered that early in his career, he insisted that awards would not come by 28 and that it would take much longer.

He then pointed out that he is 28 and received his nomination 18 years to the day after Ledger passed away. Jacob said he wanted to use the moment to say thank you to Heath Ledger for the inspiration he gave him.

From Frankenstein to the Oscars

Jacob’s Oscar nomination comes from his role as the Creature in Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein. The film is on Netflix, and images released from the movie show him in full makeup as the Creature.

He is nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category for that performance at this year’s 98th Academy Awards. The recognition ties his name to a long line of famous Frankenstein stories while highlighting the project that pushed him onto the Oscars ballot for the first time.

Practicing big nights together

Long before the Oscars call, Jacob and his mom were already sharing big nights. They walked the red carpet side by side at the 83rd Annual Golden Globes on January 11, 2026, at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills.

Photos also show Jacob and Melissa attending the 35th Gotham Film Awards at Cipriani Wall Street on December 1, 2025. Those events gave them a preview of Hollywood spotlights before stepping onto the even bigger stage of the Academy Awards.

His ‘plan B’ was the Oscars

One story Jacob shared shows how seriously he takes promises and goals. An article described him as “a man of his word” as he prepared for a night where he could collect his first golden statuette.

He said that, in a way, his “plan B” was the Oscars themselves, where he has now earned his name on the ballot for the first time. That comment underlined how long he has been aiming for this moment, even when it sounded bold.

A busy year beyond Oscars

Jacob’s Oscars moment comes during a busy stretch in his career. Coverage of his year points out that he is also starring in Wuthering Heights, a screen adaptation loosely inspired by Emily Brontë’s novel and set to hit theaters on February 13 this year.

In the film, he plays Heathcliff opposite Margot Robbie as Catherine Earnshaw. Margot has even said she became “codependent” with Jacob while making Wuthering Heights, showing how closely they worked together on that intense film project.

Critics Choice win sets the stage

Jacob’s Oscar run is built on a string of recent wins for his work in Frankenstein. Earlier in January 2026, he picked up his first major acting prize at the 31st Annual Critics’ Choice Awards show in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Photos from the night show him accepting the award for Best Supporting Actor for Frankenstein onstage. Coverage highlighted his reaction, quoting him saying “Bloody hell!” as he took in the milestone that put even more attention on his performance.

Want to see just how fast award history can happen? Check out the actors who won Oscars and nominations in under 30 minutes.

Facing tough competition at 28

Jacob enters the 98th Academy Awards in a crowded Best Supporting Actor field. His fellow nominees include Benicio Del Toro and Sean Penn for One Battle After Another, Delroy Lindo for Sinners, and Stellan Skarsgard for Sentimental Value.

This year’s Oscars ceremony, hosted by Conan O’Brien on March 15, will put all of them on the stage. Jacob, 28, has opened up about his personal life, saying in a December interview that he does not hear “I love you” enough.

Want to see how the race could really shake out? Check out our full Oscars predictions and see if you agree.

Who are you rooting for in this stacked Oscars lineup, Jacob Elordi or one of his fellow nominees? Share your pick in the comments and don’t forget to tap like if you’ll be watching on awards night!

This slideshow was made with AI assistance and human editing.

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