Fans are slamming Emerald Fennell for the ‘nightmare casting’ of Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie in her upcoming film adaptation of Wuthering Heights.
The Oscar-winning director, whose film Promising Young Woman took home the award for Best Original Screenplay in 2021, first teased in July that she would be adapting the Emily Brontë novel.
Responses to the announcement were overwhelmingly positive, with fans suggesting actors they would like to see in the lead roles of protagonist Catherine Earnshaw and her love interest Heathcliff. Some suggested Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things) for the role of Heathcliff and Florence Pugh (Midsommar) for Cathy.
Deadline has now confirmed that Saltburn star Jacob Elordi and Barbie’s Margot Robbie will play the lead characters, and fans are fuming.
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Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)
Many fans have complained that Jacob Elordi’s ethnicity does not match the role of Heathcliff. One user on X, formerly Twitter, shared their irritation, writing: “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.”
Users on Reddit were similarly disappointed by Elordi’s casting. One fan exclaimed: “Another white Heathcliff? Why!?”, while one disgruntled fan called it “My nightmare casting.”
Andrea Arnold’s 2011 take on the 19th-century romance was the first major adaptation to cast a black actor (James Howson) as Heathcliff. Arnold’s was the last film based on the literary classic and her casting choice divided critics.
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WireImage)
On the other hand, fans have pointed out that the actors’ ages do not fit the roles. In the novel, Cathy is a teenager who dies around the age of 18 or 19 – Robbie is currently 34 years old.
The A-List actors have been at the helm of big box office hits over the last two years. Elordi starred in Saltburn, also directed by Fennell, which grossed $21.1 million worldwide, while Robbie played the titular character in the billion-dollar hit Barbie.
Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights is set to start shooting in the UK in 2025, according to Deadline.
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