Why Jacob Elordi’s Wuthering Heights casting is controversial

Wuthering Heights is getting a brand new adaptation from Emerald Fennell, and the movie is getting the Hollywood treatment if its cast is anything to go by.

It was announced on Monday, 23 September that Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi had been cast as Cathy and Heathcliff, the tragic lovers at the heart of Emily Brontë's novel. But while the announcement of a new take on the gothic classic might be exciting, for many people the casting was a complete misfire.

Several people shared scathing criticism about Robbie and Elordi being cast in the movie, and most complaints were about the latter being chosen to play Heathcliff.

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. And many argued that Fennell must not be familiar with the book if she chose Elordi to play the character.

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".

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.

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 as been adapted countless times in the past, with big British names like Laurence Olivier, Ralph Fiennes, and Tom Hardy playing Heathcliff before. 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.