Emerald Fennell’s casting choices for her upcoming film adaptation of Wuthering Heights has sparked outrage among fans, with Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie announced as the iconic literary couple.
Acclaimed director Fennell, who bagged an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay in 2021 with Promising Young Woman, hinted back in July that she would be bringing Emily Bronte’s novel to the big screen, reports the Mirror.
Initially, the announcement was met with enthusiasm, with devotees of the classic suggesting their dream picks for Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, including Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things) and Florence Pugh (Midsommar). However, Deadline’s confirmation that Saltburn’s Jacob Elordi and Barbie actress Margot Robbie will take on the roles has left many fans irate.
Critics are particularly vocal about Elordi’s casting, arguing it fails to align with Heathcliff’s ethnicity as described in the novel. A user on X, previously known as Twitter, vented: “Gonna just keep whitewashing Heathcliff I see. Heathcliff is mixed race. He’s described as having dark skin in the book. Andrea Arnold is the only director brave enough to actually cast a person of colour in the role and why her version is underrated.”
Reddit users echoed this sentiment, with one lamenting the choice of another white actor for Heathcliff, and another dubbing it “My nightmare casting.”
Andrea Arnold’s 2011 rendition of the 19th-century romance was the first significant adaptation to feature a black actor (James Howson) as Heathcliff. Arnold’s film, the most recent based on the literary classic, sparked debate with her casting decision.
Fans have also noted that the actors’ ages don’t align with their characters. In the novel, Cathy is a teenager who passes away around 18 or 19 – Robbie is currently 34 years old.
The A-list actors have led major box office successes in the past two years. Elordi featured in Saltburn, also directed by Fennell, which raked in $21.1 million globally, while Robbie portrayed the main character in the billion-dollar success Barbie.
Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights is scheduled to begin filming in the UK in 2025, as reported by Deadline.