Why is Jacob Elordi’s Wuthering Heights casting controversial?
Wuthering Heights has a brand new adaptation from Emerald Fennell premiering soon in cinemas, and it’s getting the proper Hollywood treatment thanks to its cast.
Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi play Cathy and Heathcliff, the tragic lovers at the heart of Emily Brontë’s novel. While they’re certainly two of the hottest actors of the moment, but fans have called out Elordi’s casting in the gothic classic in particular.
The reasoning behind the casting concerns is simple: In the novel, Heathcliff is described as being “a dark skinned gipsy”, so film and book fans lamented a white actor being cast in the role. Fennell has defended her decision to use Elordi in the film, telling The Hollywood Reporter: “I think the thing is, everyone who loves this book has such a personal connection to it, and so you can only ever kind of make the movie that you sort of imagined yourself when you read it.”
Criticism around Jacob Elordi’s casting stems from Heathcliff’s description in the book.
And in an interview with BBC News, Fennell said that Elordi “looked exactly like the illustration of Heathcliff on the first book that I read,” which is why she chose to cast him.
Criticism around the actor’s casting has only been fuelled by the director’s decision to cast British actor Shazad Latif as Edgar Linton, as the actor has Pakistani heritage and to some film fans is arguably a better fit for the role of Heathcliff.
Many film fans have shared scathing criticism on Elordi’s casting when it was first announced in September 2024, with many arguing that Fennell must not be familiar with the book if she chose Elordi to play the character.
Shazad Latif portrays Edgar Linton in the film, and some film fans have argued he would have been a better fit for Heathcliff.
(Everett Collection, Everett Collection Inc)
Sharing their thoughts on social media platform X, one person wrote: “so what we’ve learned is that emerald fennell has not read wuthering heights”, while critic Clarisse Loughrey felt similarly, writing: “did anyone actually read the book before deciding this”.
Another said: “Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights: Heathcliff was ‘as dark almost as if it came from the devil’; ‘a dark skinned gipsy; as a child, he wishes he’d had ‘light hair and a fair skin’, aware of his radicalisation. The film industry: *let us cast yet another white actor*”
Some people joked that it would be interesting to hear the actors’ Yorkshire accents, given Elordi and Robbie are both originally from Australia.
One person also quipped that Robbie and Elordi were the wrong casting because they don’t naturally embody what makes Heathcliff and Cathy so timeless, as they wrote: “no hate to margot robbie and jacob elordi but neither of them have enough Psychologically Tortured vibes to play cathy and heathcliff. like a wuthering heights adaptation simply needs actors who are weirder.”
It wasn’t all bad, though, as others explained that those concerned about the casting can simply watch the 2011 adaptation instead, which stars Kaya Scodelario and James Howson. One person said: “sorry but there really is no reason for more adaptations of wuthering heights when the 2011 movie directed by andrea arnold exists”
While another wrote: “[I] think it’s so unfair and ridiculous how hollywood casting directors keep erasing canonically BIPOC characters in important roles especially in classic literature and historical roles like in Wuthering Heights, the 2011 adaptation is the only one that had an accurate Heathcliff”.
Many fans have pointed out that the 2011 adaptation starring James Howson is the only accurate adaptation of the story.
(Moviestore Collection, Moviestore Collection Ltd)
Kharmel Cochrane, the casting director for the film, has also responded to the criticism. Per Deadline, she said during a Q&A session at Scotland’s Sands Film Festival: “There was one Instagram comment that said the casting director should be shot. But just wait till you see it, and then you can decide whether you want to shoot me or not.
“But you really don’t need to be accurate. It’s just a book. That is not based on real life. It’s all art.”
Fennell became a sensation after she directed Saltburn, a bold take on The Talented Mr Ripley that shocked audiences with some of its more sexually charged scenes. Elordi starred in Saltburn as Felix Catton, the object of obsession for Barry Keoghan’s Oliver Quick, with Wuthering Heights marking his newest collaboration with the filmmaker.
Emerald Fennell became a sensation after she directed Saltburn, which starred Jacob Elordi.
(Variety via Getty Images)
The director also has a history with Robbie, as the pair worked together on Barbie when the former made a cameo as pregnant Barbie doll Midge. Robbie also previously produced Fennell’s films Promising Young Woman and Saltburn, but Wuthering Heights will mark their first project together as actor and director.
Wuthering Heights has been adapted countless times in the past, with big British names like Laurence Olivier, Ralph Fiennes, and Tom Hardy playing Heathcliff before. All of them are also white actors in the role of Heathcliff.
Olivier portrayed Heathcliff in 1939 with Merle Oberon, while Fiennes played the character in the 1992 film adaptation opposite Juliette Binoche, and Hardy played him in the 2009 ITV adaptation alongside Charlotte Riley.
Wuthering Heights premieres in UK cinemas on Friday, 13 February.
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