The Jacob Elordi Wuthering Heights Casting Controversy, Explained

At this point, if you see writer/director Emerald Fennell's name attached to a movie, you probably know it's going to cause a bunch of controversy — some of which does have a basis in reality, and some of which, in my view, is overblown vitriol. So what about everyone's issues with her casting her "Saltburn" star Jacob Elordi in her "Wuthering Heights" adaptation as its romantic lead, Heathcliff? Do they fall into the former or latter category?

In my opinion, it's a little of column A and a little of column B here, so allow me to expand on that. First things first: "Wuthering Heights" was written in 1847 by Emily Brontë, one of three famous literary sisters (Charlotte Brontë penned "Jane Eyre," and Anne Brontë is known for "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall"). When news broke that Fennell, who won an Academy Award in 2021 for Best Original Screenplay for her feature debut "Promising Young Woman," would adapt "Wuthering Heights" for the big screen, people were upset. That only got worse when she cast Margot Robbie as the female lead, Catherine Earnshaw (Cathy is supposed to be a brunette teenager and Robbie is blonde and in her 30s), Elordi as Heathcliff.

The reason for the uproar is this: There are suggestions in Brontë's original text that Heathcliff isn't a white man. Elordi is white and Australian. To add fuel to the fire, Andrea Arnold's 2011 movie adaptation of "Wuthering Heights" cast Kaya Scodelario as Cathy and multiracial actor James Howson as Heathcliff, adhering to this interpretation of the original text. So what's the truth here, and what do Fennell and Robbie have to say about it?

The debate over Heathcliff's racial makeup as it's depicted in Emily Brontë's book will probably continue for a long time, but here's the gist. In the novel, Heathcliff is a young, orphaned boy taken in by Cathy's father after Mr. Earnshaw takes a trip to Liverpool, and Heathcliff is often called a slur by other characters that refers to someone of Romani descent. There are also indications that he could be of Latin or Spanish descent, but it's vital to note that the book never clarifies this.

Over at The Telegraph, Michael Stewart, who leads the Brontë Writing Center, said he does believe the author meant to portray Heathcliff as a multiracial man: "I feel quite strongly that Emily's intention was that he was either Black or mixed-race and there are lots of clues in the text to suggest that." Not only that, but he feels that, in a 2026 adaptation of this centuries-old text, people usually go to greater lengths to portray the vision of Heathcliff that he thinks Brontë created.

"With 'Wuthering Heights,' you've had many years of white actors playing the more ambiguous ethnic character," Stewart said of past performers who have played Heathcliff, like Tom Hardy and Ralph Fiennes. "But things are different now, the way we represent certain people in art and culture comes with a responsibility now that wasn't there 20 years ago."

Nobody, save for Brontë's possible ghost, knows with complete certainty whether or not Heathcliff is canonically multiracial, but this debate is still valid. As far as Emerald Fennell is concerned, though, it's a personal journey of sorts.

Look, anyone who's even vaguely familiar with Emerald Fennell's career up until this point knows that the writer and director courts controversy all the time, and some of the critiques leveled against her are well-deserved. I'm a defender of "Promising Young Woman," and even though I didn't enjoy "Saltburn," I appreciate that she at least took a big swing. (Read /Film's interview with her about "Saltburn" here.) Still, what do Fennell and Robbie have to say about the polarizing Jacob-Elordi-as-Heathcliff situation?

Speaking to Variety, Robbie absolutely gushed about Elordi as her love interest. "I saw him play Heathcliff. And he is Heathcliff. I'd say, just wait. Trust me, you'll be happy," she shared, listing several other great performers who have portrayed this brooding and mysterious character. "To be a part of that is special. He's incredible and I believe in him so much. I honestly think he's our generation's Daniel Day-Lewis." That coronation aside, Fennell revealed that Elordi's look sent neurons firing in her brain largely because of his sideburns, saying, "Oh my God, it's the Heathcliff on the cover of the book that I've had since I was a teenager."

Fennell continued on that track in a video interview with 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," Fennell said of the overall movie and Elordi's casting. "That's the great thing about this movie is that it could be made every year and it would still be so moving and so interesting."

Decide for yourselves; "Wuthering Heights" is in theaters now.