Why Joseph From Wuthering Heights Looks So Familiar

Emerald Fennell's "Wuthering Heights" is a polarizing film, with /Film's own review warning that fans of Emily Brontë's original novel will need to "throw out the book entirely in order to enjoy the movie." Still, there's no denying that Fennell delivered the first big movie of 2026. This is a movie with gorgeous production design, lavish sets with some interesting decor choices straight out of a Tim Burton movie (the fireplace made out of hands, anyone?), and a great cast.

Indeed, "Wuthering Heights" is full of known faces. Sure, Margot Robbie as Cathy Earnshaw and Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff are prominently featured on the poster and promotional material, but there's more — from Hong Chau as Nelly to Shazad Latif as Edgar. Eagle-eyed viewers may have recognized "Adolescence" star Owen Cooper as young Heathcliff. Those with even better eyes, however, may have seen Ewan Mitchell as Joseph, and recognized him from a hit HBO show.

In the film, Joseph is a servant at Wuthering Heights who is working there from before Heathcliff is brought to the estate until long after Cathy's father passes away. His main role in Fennell's reimagining of the film is to expose Cathy to BDSM for the first time when she sees Joseph and another servant, Zillah (Amy Morgan), having a steamy hot session in a barn late at night.

Most likely, however, Ewan Mitchell seems familiar because he plays everyone's favorite silvery-blond-haired psychopath, Aemond Targaryen in "House of the Dragon." 

In "House of the Dragon," Ewan Mitchell plays Aemond as essentially an anime character. After all, the trope of the scarred, white-haired character who is both a sadist and a badass is well documented — from Griffith in "Berserk" to Vicious in "Cowboy Bebop." Aemond is almost a caricature: a mustache-twirling villain who seems incapable of pretending he is anything but sadism incarnate. He's only really been a part of the show for about a season and a half, after the big time-skip late in season 1, but Mitchell instantly became one of the most memorable parts of "House of the Dragon."

It helps that Mitchell has a naturally sinister look in his eyes. Even in "Wuthering Heights," where he plays a non-threatening man who simply does his job, is madly in love, and seems genuinely happy to see Cathy and Heathcliff, you can't shake the feeling that he's one bad day away from murdering everyone in the estate.

Before he played Joseph in "Wuthering Heights," Ewan Mitchell's breakout role was playing Osferth, the bastard son of the king of Wessex in the medieval historical drama "The Last Kingdom." After that, Mitchell had a supporting role in Claire Denis' "High Life" starring Robert Pattinson. He also played embittered working-class Oxford student Michael Gavey in Emerald Fennell's "Saltburn" — his first collaboration with the director.

Mitchell returns in the upcoming third season of "House of the Dragon. After that, he's scheduled to star in the remake of the 1967 Takashi Nomura film, "A Colt Is My Passport" by "The Raid" director Gareth Evans.

"Wuthering Heights" is in theaters now.