The film is facing criticism for whitewashing after casting the Saltburn star as Heathcliff.
Emerald Fennell has shared her reasons for casting Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi as the leads in her upcoming adaptation of Wuthering Heights.
The Oscar-winning director has faced criticism over the past year regarding her casting choices for Catherine and Heathcliff in the highly anticipated take on Emily Brontë’s gothic classic. Some have questioned whether Margot, who turned 35 earlier this year, is suited to play Catherine, a character depicted as a teenager for much of the novel. Others have accused the film of “whitewashing” Heathcliff, who Brontë described as “dark-skinned.”
Although the book never specifies Heathcliff’s ethnicity, fans have noted that he faces racism from other characters, especially in his youth, making the Euphoria actor’s casting a controversial choice. According to BBC News, Emerald discussed her decision to cast Margot and Jacob during an event at the Brontë family home over the weekend.
Emerald revealed that the idea of casting Jacob as Heathcliff came to her while they were working together on her latest film, Saltburn.
He looked exactly like the illustration of Heathcliff on the first book that I read, And it was so awful because I so wanted to scream. Not the professional thing to do, obviously.
Emerald recalled
I had been thinking about making [a film version of Wuthering Heights], and it seemed to me he had the thing… he’s a very surprising actor.
When it came to Margot, Emerald said she’s “not like anyone I’ve ever met – ever,” which mirrored how she felt about Catherine when she first read Wuthering Heights.
[Margot is] so beautiful and interesting and surprising, and she is the type of person who, like Cathy, could get away with anything,” the Promising Young Woman director explained. “I think honestly she could commit a killing spree and nobody would mind. And that is who Cathy is to me. Cathy is somebody who just pushes to see how far she can go.
So it needed somebody like Margot, who’s a star, not just an incredible actress – which she is – but somebody who has a power, an otherworldly power, a Godlike power, that means people lose their minds.
Although Emerald and Jacob first collaborated on Saltburn, she has worked with Margot on several occasions as well. Margot served as an executive producer on both Promising Young Woman and Saltburn, while Emerald appeared briefly in the 2023 film Barbie as Midge, a friend of Margot’s doll character.
Source: BBC